C 0 M P E N D 



OF 

CHRISTIAN DIYINITT. 



BY SY1.VANUS COBB. 



FIRST EDITION. 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
1846. 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 

SYLVANUS COBB, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



Ofrr 

BERTRAM SMITH 

SEP 8 183S 



Stereotyped by 
GEORGE A. CURTIS; 
NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



PREFACE. 



In the preparation of this work for the public, we 
are governed by a desire for the promotion of Christian 
knowledge and virtue. Though all knowledge is im- 
portant in its place, and there are discoveries of sub- 
lime moral and scientific truths, from a study of the 
nature and fitness of things, yet nothing has such 
power to enlarge, elevate, purify and bless the human 
mind, as the knowledge and love of revealed religion. 

This work is a desideratum in the Universalist pub- 
lic. We have many able Theological productions ; but 
they are devoted respectively to some particular point 
or points of the general system of Christian doctrines, 
no one book comprising a complete compend or 
body of divinity. We often meet with inquirers after 
truth, who ask our reference to a book, from which 
they can obtain a knowledge of our views of Chris^ 
tianity as a whole, embracing all its essential princi- 
ples. To such a book we have not been able to refer 
them. The difierent writers have accomplished their 
respective designs; but no one, of whom we know, has 
grasped so extensive a plan. 

This is the plan undertaken by the writer of the fol- 
lowing pages. The being of God ; his Creation of the 
world and all things in it : the Character of God ; his 



iv 



PREFACE. 



Law for the government of his children : the Penalties 
of the law, their Nature and Design ; the Judgment 
of Godj and the Judgment committed to Jesus Christ ; 
Forgiveness of Sins, viewed in relation to the Scrip- 
ture doctrine of Retribution ; the Person of Jesus 
Christj — his Mission, and the great and glorious pur- 
pose of his mission ; the Evidences of Christianity in 
the Gospel History ; the Resurrection ; the Sovereignty 
of God and Mora] Accountability of Man ; Faith, 
Repentance, and the New Birth ; and the practical 
Influence of the Christian Doctrines on the heart and 
life; — all these subjects, in which are involved all the 
principles of faith and practice in revealed religion, are 
here consecutively presented, and variously argued, 
each being exhibited in its own distinctive features, 
and in its harmony with all the rest. 

I have been several years contemplating this work, 
and preparing different portions of it, as, from time to 
time, my other engagements have afforded me leisure. 
And now, having brought it to a completion, while I 
am conscious of the imperfections of its execution, I 
send it forth in the agreeable hope, that it will be the 
humble means of aiding many inquiring minds on 
, their way to truth, to God, and to heaven. 

I do not claim to represent, in all things, the entire 
body of Christians to which I belong. There are 
some minute particulars in which the true liberty of 
thought among us has led to a variety of opinions. 
Perhaps the point in which there is the greatest differ- 



PREFACE. 



V 



ence of opinion amongst us, is in the subject of our 
thirteenth chapter, the Sovereignty of God in its rela- 
tion to the Accountability of Man. Bat even here the 
essential difference is not so great as the differ- 
ence in the manner of expression. I have uttered 
what I take to be truth on the subject, with faithful- 
ness and candor, I piously believe that the evasions 
which some Christians, of different orders, have prac- 
tised in relation to this subject, are of unfavorable ten- 
dency. A fear has been entertained in respect to the 
moral influence of a full development of truth, Scrip- 
tural and Philosophical, on this subject. But I believe 
that no moral good can result from a perpetual 
strife of the will against the convictions of the under- 
standing, and an effort to build virtue on forced and 
unsatisfactory ground. Better go with truth into all 
its depths and heights, and build virtue on its own le- 
gitimate, harmonious, and eternal principles. Better 
dig down to the solid rock, and build our house upon 
it, that when the winds beat upon it, and the floods 
come, it may stand secure. 

I would not be understood as meaning that there is 
no discretion to be used, as to time, occasion and man- 
ner, of dwelling on certain subjects, which lie deep in 
the great heart of universal nature. The circulation 
of the blood in the physical system is an important 
fact, useful to be known. Yet I would not have one 
forever thinking, and watching and dwelling on the 

heart's palpitations. Adapting the knowledge of this 
1^ 



vi 



PREFACE. 



great fact, as occasion requires^ to its legitimate use- 
ful purposes, we will ordinarily leave this grand hid- 
den work to the laws which are established for it, and 
go about the duties of those visible relations which be- 
long to our common concerns. But all accessible 
truths, the most hidden from the superficial glance, in 
philosophy and revelation, it is our duty and privilege 
to know, and, according to its natural uses, to improve 
and enjoy. 

It is recommended to inquirers after truth, that they 
commence with this work, and read it through in 
course. Let the Scriptures referred to in the sev- 
eral chapters be examined in their connexions ; and, 
by help of the Concordance, let the Scripture teach- 
ings generally, on the same subject, receive due atten- 
tion. And in pursuit of this interesting course of study 
for Christian culture and improvement, let the har- 
mony of the Christian doctrines be especially noticed, 
as an internal evidence of their true divinity. Let 
each precious truth, as you gather it on the way, be 
treasured up, and put to practice, that ^'your friends 
may have occasion to say of you as the apostle said 
to the Thessalonian Christians, that your faith grow- 
eth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of 
you all toward each other aboundeth.'' 

With regard to references to the original languages 
of the Scriptures, I have been as sparing of them as 
was deemed compatible with duty, touching the sense 
of the sacred text. The words Sheol, Hades, Gehen- 



PREFACE. 



vii 



na and Tartarus, which are all rendered hell in the 
Common Version, have become Anglicized by familiar 
discussion and use. There is no more predantry in a 
familiar reference to them, when discussing the pas- 
sages in which they occur, than there is in the use of 
the term baptize^ which is the Greek word v/ith an 
English termination. These words should all have 
been permitted to stand, like baptizo^ untranslated in 
the Scriptures ; and then the definition and history of 
them would have been introduced into our English 
dictionaries, and the English reader of the Bible 
would have found easier access to some of its teach- 
ings. 

The same remarks may be made on the word Aion^ 
in its substantive and adjective forms. If it had been 
invariably retained in the Common Version, untrans- 
lated, it would only have been adding another word 
to the English vocabulary, and the common reader 
would have easily gathered an idea of its proper force 
by observing its ample Scripture usage, and compar- 
ing text with text. 

To the foregoing catalogue may be added the Greek 
word Krisisj which signi&es judgment, coTidemnation 
or punishment. It is in a few instances rendered dam- 
7iation in the New Testament. The school-boy reads 
in the Scriptures, '^He that believeth not shall be 
damned ; " He shall be in danger of eternal {aioniori) 
damnation.'^ He goes to the English dictionary, and 
finds the word damn defined to signify, To doom to 



viii 



PREFACE. 



torments in a future state." In this manner he is de- 
ceived. He does not know that the Saviour used a sy- 
nonymous verb in the passage, ^^He that believeth not 
shall be damned^ as where it reads, He that believeth 
not is condemned already; and this is the condemnation, 
that men have loved darkness rather than light, be- 
cause their deeds were evil." If he had known this, 
he would have been likely to perceive that Jesus, in 
the first mentioned saying, spoke of the condemnation 
which is connected with unbelief, and is limited by it. 
And then, too, upon reading, (Mark iii. 29,) ^^Who- 
soever blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, hath 
never (not) forgiveness {eis ton aiona^ to the age,) but is 
in danger of eternal damnation," (aionion kinseos^ age- 
lasting punishment,) he would be able to comprehend 
that the aionio7i punishment to which the Jews should 
be subjected for that sin, is the same aion of condem- 
nation unto which they should not have forgiveness ; 
an aion which shall have ended when the fulness of 
the Gentiles are come in, and all Israel shall be 
saved, as it is written." 

I do not mean, however, that the Greek word for 
condemnation should have been preserved in the Eng- 
lish Version. It would not have been so convenient a 
word for Anglicizing. But there should have been a 
greater imiformity in the translation. These facts all 
should know, that they may not be misled by the 
sound of a word in the English tongue. 

I have referred to other original terms, in a few in- 



PREFACE. 



ix 



Stances only-j when it seemed necessary to give force 
to an important idea involved in the subject. 

It will be observed by the reader, that I have not 
headed the chapters of this work with a statement of 
doctrines which I pledge myself in the outset to main- 
tain. The chapters are headed with the proposed sub- 
jects of inquiry, and we follow the evidence in com- 
ing at our conclusions. Truth is our aim ; and why 
should a man desire to deceive himself, or to be de- 
ceived? ''Prove all things, hold fast that which is 
good," is a noble sentiment for human life. As we 
advance by the practice of this principle, we shall 
pluck of delicious sweets as we pass along, — and new 
beauties, and increasing glories will open to our view 
as we travel onward. 

There is one important fact which I think every 
candid reader will distinctly perceive in the perusal of 
this work. We have not depended upon the doubtful 
criticism of a word to sustain a darling tenet. It is a 
phenomenon, remarkable, but not unusual, to see 
Doctors enlisted in the cause of dogmas, which are pal- 
pably opposed to the revealed character of God, to the 
avowed principles and purposes of his government, to 
the spirit and design of the Saviour's mission, to the 
acknowledged wishes of the Deity, to the deep 
soul-moving prayers of all good men, — in short, op- 
posed to every holy aspiration in earth or heaven, — 
and there they stand, with inveterate will contending 
for such dogmas, by the bare instrumentality of a 



X 



PREFACE. 



verbal criticism. And what must soon prove fatal to 
their thankless cause, is, that this very sovereign de- 
fence, their verbal criticism, is itself as great a perver- 
sion of words, as their doctrines are of principles. 
Gurs is a happier lot. To all the essential doctrines 
which are brought out and established by these inves- 
tigations, we have been led as legitimate results, by 
following the great fundamental principles of revela- 
tion, as they flow in unbroken currents from the be- 
ginning to the end of the Inspired Volume, — principles 
which all sects acknowledge to gush out in the kind 
desires of the eternal Father, and which have the 
hearty AMEN of all benevolent beings. Yea, more,— 
all true criticism of words^ too, conducts to the same 
results. Shall not these doctrines stand forever? 

We intended to comprise our work within the com- 
pass of 400 pages ; but when it was nearly completed 
in stereotype, we found ourself obliged to enlarge it 
by the addition of 32 pages, and were obliged to abridge 
the last two chapters, to avoid increasing it even to a 
larger size. This addition renders the work more ex- 
pensive to us, and will diminish the remuneration of 
our own labors and outsets, — for we make no addition 
to the contemplated price. Our hope is that it may 
do good, and that it may be found worthy of a place 
in many a Christian family in our country and the 
world. Unto this end, may the blessing of God at- 
tend it. 



INDEX. 



Page. 

Preface, 3 

CHAPTER I 

God — His Existence, 13 

CHAPTER n. 

God as the Creator, 19 

CHAPTER HI. 

The Character of God, .33 

CHAPTER IV. 

God as the Lawgiver. — Nature and Design of the Law, . . 50 
CHAPTER V. 

Penalties of the Law, 59 

Section L — Nature and Design of the Penalties, ... 59 
Section H.— Controverted Terms, Designating and Qualifying 

Punishment, 72 

The term Hell, from Sheol and Hades, .... 73 

Gehenna, 80 

Tartarus, 96 

Aion and Aionios, Forever and Everlasting, . . . 105 

CHAPTER VI. 

Judgment, 112 

Judgment by Jesus Christ, 123 

CHAPTER VH. 

Punishment and Forgiveness, . . . . , , , 146 

CHAPTER VIH. 

The Person of Christ. Who is He ? 168 

Section I. — An Examination, by the Light of Scripture, of 

Prevailing Opinions concerning Christ, . . 168 
Section II. — A more particular View of the New Testament 

Teachings of the Person of Christ, . . .183 
Section III. — Christ the Image of God, and Exalted in his Glory, 198 



xii * INDEX. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Page. 

The Mission of Christ, 210 

Section I. — Erroneous Views Examined. — Christ suffered not 

Infinite Wrath as a Substitute for Man, . . 210 

Section II. — Salvation from Sin, 220 

Section III. — The General Purpose of the Saviour's Mission, 228 

Objections, 263 

CHAPTER X. 

The Christ of the New Testament the Messiah of the Old, . . 273 
CHAPTER XI. 

Truth of the Gospel History, 288 

CHAPTER XH. 

The Resurrection, 306 

Resurrection to Condemnation, 320 

Resurrection of the Just. ....... 352 

What shall be Raised? . , 359 

Shall we know each other in Heaven ? .... 368 

On the Time of the Resurrection, ..... 370 

The Spirits in Prison, .376 

CHAPTER Xm. 
The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God, and Moral Account- 
ability of Man, ,386 

Section L — The Foreknowledge and Sovereignty of God^ . 386 
Section II. — The Sovereignty of God and Accountability of 

Man, Harmonized, 399 

CHAPTER XrV. 

Faith, Repentance, and the New Birth, 412 

Faith, 412 

Repentance, 415 

The New Birth, 417 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Influence of Christianity in forming the Life, . . . 425 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



CHAPTER 1. 

GOD. HIS EXISTENCE. 

The beginning of all things is God. This funda- 
mental truth the Scriptures declare distinctly, and with 
power. There is one God.'' And it is interesting 
to go often out into an exploration of the works of 
Godj for living confirmations of his blessed word. 
^^For the invisible things of him from the creation of 
the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even his eternal power and God- 
head.'' 

Indulge your thoughts in meditation, and you are 
impressed with the evidence of power, pre-existent, 
and all-controlling. You awake into being without 
your own volition, and by the operation of a law mys- 
terious as existence itself, which no man instituted. 
You breathe and you see, by mechanisms which you 
contrived not, and which you can never understand. 
Your lungs are inflated by an atmosphere which you 
formed not ; and you are warmed and enlightened by 
a sun which you did not create. Regardless of your 
consent, you are driven through space a thousand 
miles every hour by the earth's diurnal rotation; and 
more than sixty-eight thousand miles an hour by its 
2 



14 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



annual revolution. Thus you are plunged into the 
darkness of night ; and anon you are roused with the 
brightness of day. And thus you are driven to your 
firesides by the freezing cold of Winter ; and you are 
again called forth to the airy field by the enlivening 
warmth and the cheering song of Spring. You can 
plantj to be sure, and you can sow; but you could 
never have contrived a seed with vegetative power, 
nor will the winds and rains obey orders from you. 
The grain you sow, and the grass upon which your 
cattle feedj grow by a process which you could never 
have contrived, and which your boasted powers of 
reason are unable to copy. 

When you commence your existence, it is under cir- 
cumstances of which you have no control ; and you 
are conscious of being, to a great extent, disposed of 
through life by powers not your own. And when 
your boasted selves go hence, and your mortal powers 
lie motionless in death, no wheel in nature stops for 
want of you ; — the power which brought you here, and 
upheld you here a season, moves on its mighty works 
when you are gone. 

But unseen power is not all the invisible essence, 
which the mind discovers in the works of nature. 
Intelligence is no less manifest than power. We see 
design in the things around us. And design involves 
counsel ; and counsel involves intelligence. 

In the agreement of parts in nature, and the adapta- 
tion of things to certain useful ends, we have demon- 
strative proof of counsel and design. For what pur- 
pose does the earth perform its annual ecliptic circuit 
around the sun ? It is to bring about the pleasing and 
profitable variety of seasons. And for what purpose 
does the earth revolve daily on its axis ? It is to pro? 



GOD — HIS EXISTENCE. 



15 



duce the necessary interchange of day and night. 
And to furnish this regular and frequent interchange 
of day and night, is precisely as a world must have 
been planned, to be a fit abode of such creatures as 
inhabit our globe. We need frequent seasons of repose 
in sleep ; and the darkness of night is adapted to our 
want. How much better suited to the purpose of quiet 
and refreshing sleep is the sable darkness, which 
hushes all the world to silence and sleep at once, than 
would be the glare of perpetual day, with the world 
in bustle all around. And how kindly for man is the 
arrangement, fixing for him his seasons of rest, rather 
than that he, anxious to push his labors forward, 
should have been left to select for himself. A further 
purpose of good is answered by the interchange of day 
and night, in the healthful coolness of the atmosphere, 
and the refreshment afforded vegetation. The cool- 
ness combines with the darkness of the evening to 
invite us to rest ; and the freshness combines with the 
light of the morning to urge us again to labor. 

Another pleasing manifestation of design, proving 
the existence of an intelligent Being to calculate, is in 
the construction of the atmosphere. It is so contrived 
as to break the rays of the sun into a pleasant light 
and genial warmth, to supply us with breath and con- 
vey sound ; and also to buoy up vapors, and discharge 
them in gentle showers upon the earth's surface. If it 
were not for this element, contrived just as it is, it 
would have been in vain that we were furnished with 
such wonderfully constructed lungs, for we could not 
have breathed; — it would have been in vain that we 
were furnished with such curiously organized ears, for 
we could not have heard ; — it would have been in vain 
that eyes were given us, for we could not have seen ; — 



16 



C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and it would have been in vain that the seeds of all 
trees and herbs were in the ground, for they could not 
have been watered by fructifying showers, nor warmed 
by genial suns. Nor with this mysterious element, 
could light, or heat, or showers have blessed us, if 
there had been no sun to operate upon it. What a 
wonderful calculation upon ends, and unerring adapta- 
tion of means ! 

See also the proof of counsel and design, in the 
correspondence between the wants of all sentient 
creatures, and the provisions which are furnished for 
their sustenance. Every creature finds a provision 
furnished, which agrees with its constitutional wants; 
and the form of its body, and of all its members, is 
accommodated to its use in procuring the provision, 
required. 

Why have there not been animals brought into 
being, with constitutional wants that have no corre- 
sponding provision ] And why has it not happened 
that the construction of the bodies and limbs of ani- 
mals was incompatible with the climate they were 
made to inhabit, and unsuitable for use in supplying 
their natural wants ? Why had not the raindeer, who 
loves upon hard sharp hoofs to prance over fields of 
ice, the soft flagging feet of the tropical camel ? Why 
had not the lion that roars for his prey, the hoofs and 
the teeth of the domestic horse? ^Vhy had not the 
ox, whose stomach craves the herbs and grass of the 
field, the neck and the mouth of the fishes of the sea? 
And why had not the lungs, or the substitute for 
lungs, of the fishes of the sea, been placed in the 
winged and plumed bodies of the fowls of the air ? 
Why no such incongruities ? Why, even in those 
things which derive their existence from proximate 



GOD HIS EXISTENCE. 



17 



sources independent of each other, is there such pre- 
cise and adaptable agreement, wherever such agree- 
ment is needful ? It is because there is a GOD, answers 
reason, Avhose wisdom and understanding planned, 
when his power produced these things. 

Surely that man must be in a strange delirium, who 
imagines that all this agreement of parts in the uni- 
versal whole, and this wise adaptation of means to the 
production of useful and needful ends, is brought 
about by a power as blind and senseless as the ab- 
stract whirlwind. While he laughs at credulity, a 
blind credulity is his only faith. He is blind to the 
evidence of truth, and believes the harder side. For 
the existence of intelligence to plan and direct in what 
we call the works of nature, is as evident as that there 
is power to produce. We can as clearly see that things 
exist for certain definite purposes, as that they exist 
at all. 

But I cannot find in all creation a stronger impress 
of the Creator's wisdom, than in you, for whom I pen 
these cogitations. Every bone, muscle, sinew, nerve, 
artery, vein, in your bodies, is jointed, placed and 
strung, precisely as it should be for the purposes of 
life and motion, suited to your mode of being and 
sphere of action. And the senses are exactly adapted 
to the purposes of enjoyment. When I consider the 
consummate wisdom and skill in the construction of 
the organs of taste^ by which we test the quality of the 
sustenance received, and derive pleasure from the 
mandication of the food we eat; — and in the organs 
of smelly by which we detect what is unsavory before 
we receive it, and are delighted with the fragrance of 
sweet spices and flowers ; — and of sight^ by which we 
direct our steps in safety, and survey the delightful 
2=^ 



18 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

beauties and glories of creation around us ;— of hear- 
ings to hold sweet social converse, and to feast upon 
the harmony of sounds, and the rich tones of friend- 
ship and love; — and especially when I consider the 
construction of the mind, to reason and judge on what 
you hear and see, to store up the abundant treasures 
of knowledge, truth and virtue, and to '4ook through 
nature up to nature's God," — I exclaim with the Psalm- 
ist, The/(9o/ hath said in his heart, there is no God." 
Surely ^'the invisible things of him from the creation 
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made, even his eternal power and God- 
head." 

St. Paul speaks of feeling after and finding God. 
He who habitually disciplines his mind and moral 
affections, by the study of the word and works of 
God, and the communion of his spirit, will acquire the 
power to perceive the being and enjoy the presence of 
the eternal Father. 



CHAPTER II. 



GOD AS THE CREATOR. 

In the foregoing chaptetj we have recognized the 
being of God, as it is declared in the Scriptures, and 
attested by the voice of nature. This second chapter 
is substantially a continuation of the same subject, — 
relating to God, however, more directly as the Creator 
of the world, and especially of man. 

The Scripture teachings of God's authorship of the 
world and its furniture, are put forth in the simple 
authority of truth. There is no shade of doubtful- 
ness, no fear of contradiction. As a truth known of 
God, and belonging to man, the inspired witnesses 
utter it in sublime assurance. In the beginning God 
created the heaven and the earth." ''So God made 
man in his own image," ''And hath made of one 
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of 
the earth." 

But this Bible doctrine in relation to the origin of 
our race, some are disposed to question, even to cast 
away. And what better account do they give us 7 
None. When they discard the Bible testimony, they 
are lost. Their folly becomes manifest, and their con- 
fusion is pitiable. Yes ; after all the vain contradic- 
tions of men, the Bible account of the origin of man is 
the only philosophical, as well as the only authenti- 
cated account, attained or attainable. Go and exam- 
ine all the guesses of skeptics, who, in their proud 
haste to make a masterly leap above the weakness of 
credulity, plunge from rational faith into the merest 



20 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



credulity itself. How will they account for the begin- 
ning of our race 7 

Sometimes they will say that the human species was 
without beginning, existing from eternity. Was there 
ever then a first pair, male and female, who are self- 
existent, and without beginning? Then they had 
existed from eternity when they first had an issue; 
and being self-existent, they had a necessary and inde- 
pendent being, immortal of course, and are somewhere 
in existence now. Where are they? They are not 
transported to any other world, — for such a change of 
worlds would require a miracle ;— and in miracles the 
skeptic has no belief. They must be somewhere on 
the earth, an eternity old ! and we should be pleased to 
see them. They are of course flesh and blood, objects 
of sight; and we crave an introduction to that first 
man and woman, who were without beginning, self- 
existent, and independent ! 

No ; they will not finally admit that there was a first 
pair, or any individual, without beginning. It is the 
species, the succession of individuals, and not a single 
individual, that was without beginning. But this 
hypothesis explodes itself. If there was no individual 
self-existent from eternity, then every individual of the 
human race had a beginning. And if every individual 
of our species had a beginning, then the whole race 
had a beginning. So, also, if the whole race had a 
beginning, there was a first individual, or first pair, 
that began to be. How did they begin ? This ques- 
tion returns upon us. 

We know that the first man must have been pro- 
duced in a manner different from the present descent 
of one generation from another preceding ; for the first 
man had no preceding generation of men to produce 



GOD AS THE CKEATOR. 



21 



him. To say that the first pair were produced by the 
rich mud of Egypt, is too silly to bespeak the sincerity 
of those who assert it. Honorable minded man ! So 
ambitious of the credit of denying the existence and 
creative agency of God, as to ascribe thine own noble 
being to the original creation of the senseless mud of 
Egypt ! Go, then, take of the Egyptian clay, and in * 
filial homage worship it, — for it is thy Creator. 

But if the fermentation of senseless matter, or any 
natural operation of the laws of the material world, pro- 
duced the first human bemg, why does not the same 
cause produce such beings now ? Should a wild man be 
found in the woods, would infidels believe that he had 
grown up out of the ground with the trees and shrubs ] 
or that an accidental concurrence of atoms had formed 
him ? They would scout the thought. They do not, 
in fact, believe that there is power in senseless matter 
to work out such results. 

Let your thoughts dwell for a moment on the idea 
of unconscious matter going at work to create a 
human being. The particles which are requisite for 
the purpose come together, and form a skeleton of 
bones, providing such pieces, all in their due form, as 
are requisite for the head, body and limbs, — and all 
measured and jointed, and perfectly adapted to the 
future motion and convenience of the wonderful crea- 
ture that is about to be. But these can never be of 
service, unless there are ropes and cords provided for 
moving them: and so another description of particles 
comes out from the arcana of nature, and they form 
themselves into tough and elastic cords, adapted in 
size and strength to the stations they are to take, — and 
they string around this skeleton of bones, fastening 
themselves here and there : and where bands at the 



22 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



joints are needful to keep them in place, new particles 
volunteer their service to form bands where they are 
required ; and where loops are wanted, through which 
for the cords to pass in order to draw the bones in the 
right direction, other particles come up and form such 
loops, taking care that they shall be so adjusted as to 
give the pulleys free and effective action by them. 
But these cords cannot serve their purpose without a 
moving process ; and so another troop of particles vol- 
unteer themselves, and form into muscles, which take 
their stations so as to draw the ropes in the required 
directions, and assume such size in the different sta- 
tions, as their labor in such stations may demand. 
And now another provision must be had. When the 
skeleton of bones is strung with cords, and these, prop- 
erly banded and looped, are bedded and hitched in 
muscles, — and these, furthermore, are all wrapped and 
secured in a beautiful covering of skin, there must be 
some method of communicating motion to the muscles, 
and impelling them to draw the ropes in the desired 
direction. For this purpose a more subtle class of 
particles combine, — all senseless matter, no intelli- 
gence, no power of designing, — they happen to fall 
together in such a manner as to produce a sensorium 
and will, a will to command the motion of the muscles 
in every part of the system, with an authority to be 
obeyed. But to give action even to the will which 
commands the muscles, the blood must be provided, 
and circulation given it; and a breathing apparatus 
must be furnished, — and life, which none of these par- 
ticles themselves possess, must be given this organized 
body. For the breathing apparatus can neither give 
life, nor act without it. Its action is a means of per- 
petuating life in the system, but it cannot give it. 



GOD AS THE CREATOR. 



23 



When the Ufe is gone from the body, no inflation of 
the lungs with air can restore it. Yet this lifeless, 
senseless matter, which happened to come together in 
the formation of this wonderful structure of the first 
man. gave it life ; — and in addition to other wonderful 
contrivances too numerous to mention here, gave to 
this new made creature the wonderful faculty of intel- 
ligence and reason ! 

Think, kind reader, of all this being done solely by 
dead unconscious matter, with no intelligence to plan, 
to design and superintend it. Who believes it ? Who 
is so weakly credulous, or so madly infatuated? 

And when this noble being is formed, he is alone ; 
and though he has social faculties and wants, he must 
remain alone while he lives ; and when he dies, leave 
the world unpeopled again, unless the same sort of 
senseless matter goes on creating others like him, — or 
else happens to combine together in the establishment 
of some other cause for the multiplication and perpe- 
tuity of his species. And so we must believe, if we 
will get along without a Creator, that about the same 
time this first man w^as forming without a former, out 
of unconscious matter, another set of particles was 
happening, all without any intelligence in the universe 
to design it, to be getting together in the formation of 
another intelligent being, constituted female, to be a 
companion and help-meet for the man. And having 
thus provided, in the constitution of this first pair, for 
the peopling of the whole earth, here this mindless 
matter leaves its work, and never happens to produce 
such beings in this primitive manner again ! 

Surely no person can be stupid enough to believe, 
upon reflection, in a position so absurd and ridiculous. 
And hard must be the labor of that infatuated mind, 



24 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



which has so strange a desire to orphanize the uni- 
verse, as to purposely hide away from the light of 
truth, which is shining before and behind him, above 
and below, and on his right hand and left, in every 
object he looks upon, and in every subject on which he 
holds converse. 

But we will return to the immovable position of the 
Bible, where the mind finds rest and satisfaction. 
There must be something self-existent, and without 
beginning. And it is as easy to conceive of self-exis- 
tent mind, as of self-existent matter. Indeed, that 
alone of which you can conceive as unbeginning, is 
that which, like space itself, is all-pervading and un- 
changing, and whose existent^e is not composed of 
measured parts, or successive revolutions. And when 
we have received the fact of one self-existent GOD, an 
unbeginning all-pervading MIND, there appears no 
longer any thing strange in all the wonderful and glo- 
rious works which are constantly going on in the uni- 
verse around us. Without this faith, every day, hour 
and minute presents us with a succession of unac- 
countable and distracting wonderments. But in the 
faith of God the Creator, all are accounted for in the 
wisdom and power of Jehovah. The existence of our 
glorious world, with the adaptedness, order, and util- 
ity of its parts ; and of the various creatures which 
live and move on the earth, with the nicely planned 
structure of their bodies, their powers and capacities 
suited to their states and natures, and the correspond- 
ing provisions adapted to their wants; for all these 
things the divine Greatness is an adequate cause. Yes ; 
when we consider our own wonderful existence, the 
thousands of exact contrivances in our system, all 
combined being necessary to make us what we are ; 



GOD AS THE CREATOR. 



25 



and when we reflect that there must have been a first 
pair, male and female, brought mto being in a manner 
different from the present natural descent of our spe- 
cies, even by the immediate creation of almighty Intel- 
ligence, we coma home with satisfaction to the Bible 
affirmation : — ^^So God created man in his own image; 
in the image of God created he him ; male and female 
created he them. And God blessed them^ and God said 
unto them^ Be fmdtful^ and midtijjly^ and replenish the 
earthy and subdue it.^^ '^He giveth to all life^ and breathy 
and all things ; and hath made of one blood all nations 
of men^ for to dwell on all the face of the earth.^'' 

While the Bible gives us the only rational and 
authentic account of the origin of our race, the time 
which it assigns for that origin is also 'confirmed by 
every argument which is deducible from known and 
historical facts. We know that within our own recol- 
lection, there have been important improvements made 
in the arts. From this we perceive that the human 
mind is naturally on the stretch for discovery and 
inventions, and that if our race had been here from 
eternity, or for millions of ages, the progress of im- 
provements would have gone far in advance of the 
present. Indeed, the very idea of improvements in a 
race of beings, leads us to trace them back to a begin- 
ning. And" when we go into authentic history, and see 
what improvements have been added by the present 
generation, and subtract them from the sum total of 
human attainments, we see the civilized world of the 
preceding age to be so much lower. And thus we go 
downward as we trace backward. And by every 
authentic source of information, we trace the human 
species downward, back of all improvements, to a 
3 



i6 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

State of simple nature, by the time we get to the date 
of creation as given us by the Scriptures. 

I know that some have atttempted an argument 
from certain figures which have been found in Egypt 
and China, purporting to be dates running far back of 
the Bible chronology. But it has been made evident 
by learned researches, that the pretences which the 
Egyptians made to antiquity, so far back of the time 
recorded in the Scriptures, proceeded in part from their 
calculating by lunar years or months ; and probably in 
part from their reckoning the dynasties of their kings 
in succession, which were cotemporary. For Hero- 
dotus mentions twelve Egyptian kings as reigning at 
one time ; which, if reckoned by an ignorant or a de- 
signing chronologist as reigning in succession, would 
make a vast difference in dates. They had such differ- 
ent accounts, however, of chronology, that, as it is 
affirmed, some of them computed about thirteen thou- 
sand years more than others, from the original of their 
dynasties to the time of Alexander the Great.=^ Indeed, 
there are numerous confutations, which I have not 
time to recite, of the Egyptians' fabulous pretensions 
to antiquity. They have nothing authentic reaching 
back so far as the time assigned by Moses for the cre- 
ation of our first progenitors. 

The same remarks in general will apply also to the 
pretensions of the Chinese. Indeed, they themselves 
confess, that their antiquities are in great part fabu- 
lous; and they acknowledge that their most ancient 
books were in hieroglyphics, which were not ex- 
pounded by any one who lived nearer than one thou- 
sand seven hundred years to the first author of them ; 



* Home's Introduction, vol. 1, p. 173. 



GOD AS THE CKEATOR. 



27 



and that the numbers in computation are sometimes 
mistaken, or that months are put for years. 

Finally, as I said before, we get back to a point, by 
running back in any channel of authentic information, 
by the time we have gone back six thousand years. 
From beyond that period there has no improvement, 
no trace of an earlier age been handed along to us. 
How wonderfully does this circumstance confirm the 
Bible account of the beginning of our improvable 
race, and of the time of such beginning. 

Suppose a number of boys are taken in early child- 
hood and placed upon an uninhabited island, in such 
circumstances that they can just make a shift to sus- 
tain themselves till they grow up to manhood. They 
have no recollection of any human beings but them- 
selves, and they know nothing of birth or of death. 
When they have obtained a knowledge of the island 
in which they live, including the growth and decay of 
plants and trees, and have acquired the habit of rea- 
soning, they start the question of their origin. One 
suggests that they were in being from eternity; and 
another, that they had a beginning, and that at no very 
distant period. Here they join issue. The former has 
no other argument to offer than that they do not know 
their beginning. The latter argues from the following 
facts : — They perceive that they have been advancing 
in stature, in strength, and in knowledge. They have 
marks upon their walls which designate the height of 
their stature as they were a few years ago, — not half 
their present height, — and they remember when they 
v.' ere quite small and weak, and could not understand 
nor do what they can at the present time. So they 
trace back the retrograde of their growth and improve- 
ments, to smaller and smaller things in relation to 



28 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



themselves, until their recollection is lost in the con- 
fused indistinctness of earliest childhood. From these 
facts he argues, and that conclusively, that in some 
way or other, and at a time not far from the termi- 
nation of their recollection in the littleness of their 
stature and experience, they had a beginning. 

What is true of the boys in the case supposed, is true 
of the human race as a species, — substituting history, 
and the monuments of art, for the boys' memory. We 
find the human race improvable and improved. We 
trace back the retrograde of their improvements to 
days of smaller and smaller things, until we find our 
race in a rude, unimproved, infantile state, and pro- 
fane history is lost in confusion. And all this is within 
the compass of the last six thousand years. This is 
not only decisive argument for the doctrine, which 
nothing but extreme madness and folly can dispute, 
that our race had a beginning: but it is also strongly 
confirmative of the date to which the Bible assigns 
such beginning. How strangely in love with darkness 
must that mind be, which will discard the Mosaic ac- 
count of the creation of our species, because it assigns 
such creation to so recent a date, when every circum- 
stance which has a bearing on the subject confirms 
this date, — and you cannot, by any authentic channel 
of information, step a foot beyond it. 

But some have thought that even the Bible account 
implies that there were people on the earth before 
Adam and Eve. For when there was only recorded 
the creation of Adam and Eve, and the birth of Cain 
and Abel, we read of Cain's murdering Abel, and then 
of his being afraid lest every one finding him should 
slay him. ''And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest 
any finding him should slay him." Who was there," 



GOD AS THE CREATOR. 



29 



it has been triumphantly asked, ^- for Cain to be afraid 
of, since Abel, the only other progeny, was dead, and 
he was left alone with his parents?" In answer, I 
demand to be informed, what is the evidence that Cain 
was then the only surviving child of his parents? 
This very account of Moses implies that the progeny 
of Adam and Eve had, by that time, become some- 
what numerous. There are but five chapters of Gen- 
esis devoted to the first fifteen hundred years. Of 
course nothing more was attempted than to touch upon 
some prominent features of the history, some important 
links in the chain of events, from the creation to the 
flood. The birth of only such persons is recorded, as 
are made the subjects of some remark, or as stand in 
the direct line of genealogy. The language of Moses 
recognizes the fact, that much transpired which he did 
not record. His language is, And in process of time 
it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the 
ground,'' ^' In jjrocess of time it came to pass;" 

which is as much as to say, a considerable term of 
time, and series of events, passed in their course, 
which I do not record. Adam was one hundred and 
thirty years old when Seth was born, which was soon 
after the death of Abel. Accordingly there had been 
nearly one hundred and thirty years, more than half 
the age of the oldest North American civilized settle- 
ment, for the posterity of Adam to multiply, and spread 
out upon the face of the earth, when Cain, in guilty 
despair, was afraid of summary vengeance from his 
neighbors. 

It has also been asked, If there were no people on 
the earth but Adam and Eve, with their posterity, how 
did Cain get him a wife in the land of Nod?" The 
record does not say that he did. People have read 
3^ 



30 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



carelessly. It speaks of Cain's departing, and going into 
the land of Nod, and of an event there in relation to his 
wife, in a manner implying that his wife constituted a | 
member of his family before. The word Nod signifies 
vagabond ; a name, of course, which the country did 
not bear before, but which was given it on account of 
this vagabond settling in it. It was probably an un- 
settled tractj where, with his own family, he sought 
seclusion. 

Some have thought that the different statures and 
complexions of men in different parts of the world, 
argue against their common origin, as of one blood, 
proceeding from one progenitor. But I am sure that 
this objection will not hold. The difference of features 
and complexion can be rationally accounted for, by 
the influence of climate and circumstances, affecting 
the complexion and the phrenological developments. 
Or, if some of the most strongly marked differences 
should be thought to require a special interposition of 
the divine agency, to make certain means effect the 
change, it is more philosophical to suppose that such 
divine agency was in such manner interposed, than 
that as many first pairs were created out of the earth. 
Reason concurs with the Scriptures, in tracing back 
the descent of human kind all to one original stock — 
so that, notwithstanding there are different complex- 
ions, we shall view all men as members of one family, 
all blood relations, bound to regard each other with 
fraternal affection. 

REFLECTIONS. 

Finally, after all the war of words, the Bible stands 
on an immovable basis of truth. Composed of writings 



GOD AS THE CREATOR. 



31 



which run through more than 4000 years, interwoven 
freely and unreservedly with names of persons and 
places, and with dates, and histories, it has borne the 
strictest scrutiny — the rigid scrutiny of foes as well as 
friends — and it stands unrefated — nay, confirmed. 
It waxes stronger and wears brighter by use. If there 
has been any seeming advantage gained of it, it has 
been by misrepresentation. It comes up from the 
wars of ages, waving its banners of triumph, and 
shining in divine beauty and glory. It contains a 
chain of prophecies, whose consistency and fulfilment 
attest their divinity; and it inculcates a system of 
faith and morals, whose internal harmony and excel- 
lence, and whose wonderful adaptedness to the comfort 
and the moral perfectness of man, prove it to be the 
workmanship, the provision, of the same God who 
has constituted the human mind to need it. 

I was filled with admiration for the value of the 
Scriptures, when, some time since, I stepped into our 
Supreme Court to listen a few moments to a plea of one 
of the leading enemies of the Bible, who was on trial for 
profanity and obscenity. In censuring the bad spirit 
which he thought was manifested by the prosecuting 
ofiicer of government, he took occasion to contrast 
it with the spirit and precepts of said officer's professed 
Master. So he is constrained to resort to Jesus Christ, 
or to his religion, as the standard of moral perfectness. 
How strangely is that man set at work, to be employ- 
ing misrepresentation, and every art, to ridicule, and, if 
possible, overthrow, that system of religion unto which , 
he is forced to go, when he would refer to a perfect 
standard of moral goodness ! Surely he must be like 
Milton's fallen angels, seeking to get revenge on man- 
kind, because of his own disappointment. He would 



32 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



rob US of our highest good, and in returuj give us — 
nothing. 

We consent not to the exchange. We take to our 
hearts the word of God. You that are aged, it is the 
stay and solace of your dechning years. You that are 
in the active prime of manhood, its principles cheer 
and animate you in your labors, inspire and bless you 
in your duties, and add a high zest to all your pure 
enjoyments. You that are young, the teachings of 
this sacred Book distill the refreshing dews of grace 
and virtue into your expanding, blooming minds, and 
nourish there those rich principles of faith and l©ve, 
which shall yield you the sure harvest of peace and 
joy now and in after years. 

" Here the Redeemer's welcome voice 
Spreads heavenly peace around ; 
And life and everlasting joys 
Attend the blissful sound, 

0 may these heavenly pages be 

Our study and delight j 
And still new beauties may we see, 

And still increasing light." 



CHAPTER III. 



THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 

We have said that the beginning of all things is 
God. But the value of God to the universe, the foun- 
dation of all human confidence, and the reason of hu- 
man praise, is his character. None, therefore, will be 
reluctant to give devout attention to this subject, with 
an earnest, child-like simplicity of heart. There are 
certain intellectual and physical attributes of God, 
which I shall here set forth, but not dwell upon, 
because they are understood and conceded by all 
theists. 

First; — God is possessed of infinite Knowledge. 
The comprehensive knowledge of the Deity is ex- 
pressed in the Scriptures in various ways. The pro- 
phet says, (1 Sam. ii. 3 :) For the Lord is a God of 
knowledge, and by him are actions weighed." Job 
expresses the idea of unlimited knowledge in God, by 
a challenge to all men to give him instruction. (Job 
xxi. 22 :) Shall any teach God knowledge? " Again, 
(Job xi. 8,) the boundless extent of the Divine knowl- 
edge is represented thus: ^^It is as high as heaven; 
what canst thou do? Deeper than hell, (sheol, or the 
unknov/n depths;) what canst thou know?" St. 
Paul said, (Acts xv. 18,) Known unto God are all 
his works from the beginning of the world." 

The unbounded knowledge or omniscience of God, 
is involved in his omnipresence. And his omnipres- 



34 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



ence is beautifully expressed by the psalmist in the 
following poetic manner. (Psalm cxxxix. 7 — 10 :) 
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall 
I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, 
thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, {sheol,) 
behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the 
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 
even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand 
uphold me." 

But I need not weary the reader with the multipli- 
cation of proofs, on a point which is not disputed; and 
I will close this section of my work, with the admira- 
ble description of the Divine omniscience furnished by 
Dr. Clarke. ^'Omniscience, or the potver to know all 
things J is an attribute of God, and exists in him as 
omnipotence, or the power to do all things. ^ ^ God 
cannot have fore-knowledge^ strictly speaking, because 
this would suppose that there was something coming, 
in what we futurity, which had not yet arrived at 
the presence of the Deity, Neither can he have any 
after-knowledge, strictly speaking, for this would sup- 
pose that something that had taken place, in what we 
call pretereity, or past time^ had now got beyond the 
presence of the Deity, As God exists in all that can be 
called eternity, so he is equally everywhere: nothing 
can be f uture to him, because he lives in all futurity : 
nothing can be past to him, because he equally exists 
in all past time: futurity and pretereity are relative 
terms to us; but they can have no relation to that 
God who dwells in every point of eternity,— with 
whom all that is past, all that is present, and all that 
is future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible, and 
eternal NOW." (See Clarke on Acts ii. 23.) 

Second ;— God is infinitely Wise, Blessed be the 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



35 



name of the Lord forever, for wisdom and might are 
his.*' O Lord, how manifold are thy works ; in wis- 
dom hast thou made them all.'' (Ps. civ. 24. Dan. ii. 
20.) O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom 
and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judg- 
ments, and his ways past finding out ! " (Rom. xi. 33.) 

Wisdom and knowledge, are, perhaps, generally 
looked upon as synonymous terms. But they are 
doubtless more accurate who consider them as dis- 
tinct. ''Knowledge consists in having a stock of 
proper ideas and notions of things ; wisdom consists 
in reducing these to practice, in conducting any aftair 
with ingenuity and skill." Therefore as God pos- 
sesses infinite knowledge and wisdom, he knows per- 
fectly well what is best to be done, and has ability or 
skill to contrive such a system, to institute such ar- 
rangements, and to put things into such orderly and 
harmonious operation, as to secure the desired and 
intended ultimatum. 

Third ; — God hath almighty Power, To Abraham 
he said, ^'I am the almighty God." (Gen. xvii. 1.) 
''God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that 
power belongeth to God." (Ps. Ixii. 11.) ''Lift up 
your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these 
things, that bringeth out their host by number : he 
calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his 
might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." 
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his 
hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and com- 
prehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and 
Aveighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a 
balance ? All nations before him are as nothing ; and 
they are counted to him as less than nothing, and 
vanity." (Isa. xl.) " And he doeth according to his 



36 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants 
of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say 
unto him, What doest thou?" (Dan. iv. 35.) I am 
God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is 
none like me ; declaring the end from the beginning, 
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done; 
saying. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
pleasure.'' (Isa. xlvi. 9, 10.) Who worketh all 
things after the counsel of his own will." (Eph. i. 11.) 

Thus far we find the character of God to be such as 
to inspire us with profoundest awe. Omniscient and 
all-wise; his discernment is present in all time and 
space, and comprehends all past, present, and future 
events. And his wisdom plans all things, for ''all 
things are of God," and arranges them for successful 
operation. And his omnipresent, all-pervading, al- 
mighty power^ works for him, grasping an infinite 
variety of means, adapted to the countless natures, 
relations, forms and manners, of the works and opera- 
tions he designs. In humble submission we bow to- 
the force of his word by the prophet, I will work, and 
who shall let it 7^'' (Isa. xliii. 13.) 

But while we stand in wonder, amazement, and 
awe profound, in contemplating the vastness of the 
Divine intelligence, and wisdom, and power, there is 
yet a feature in the Divine character which must be 
especially considered, as the only foundation of confi- 
dence, love and praise. Wisdom and might alone can- 
not render a being an object of trust. Without moral 
principle, that wisdom may be a fiendish cunning, and 
that power the executor of fiendish malevolence. 
Hence the importance of the divine moral attributes. 
We will proceed then to expatiate,-— 

Fourth ; — On the Righteousness of God. This fea-* 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



37 



ture of the Divine character is the most constantly and 
conspicuously held forth in the Scriptures, as the chief 
corner-stone in Bible theology. And the righteous- 
ness, the mercy and the goodness of the Lord, are 
always urged as the reason or ground of trust, and 
love and praise. ^' O that men would praise the Lord 
for his goodness, and his wonderful works to the chil- 
dren of men." '^O give thanks unto the Lord, for he 
is good; for his mercy endureth forever." ^^0 praise 
the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people! 
For his merciful kindness is great towards us ; and the 
truth of the Lord endureth forever." How excellent 
is thy loving-kindness, O God ! therefore do the chil- 
dren of men put their trust under the shadow of thy 
wings." '^God is love." '^God commendeth his 
love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners 
Christ died for us." We love him, because he first 
loved us."* 

And here let it be remarked, that when the Scriptures 
ascribe goodness, or love, to God, they mean the same 
quality, or principle, as that which is attributed, by the 
same terms, to man. Some have conceived of such a 
difference between the moral qualities expressed by 
these terms, when applied to God, and when applied to 
man, as to make them even opposite principles. When 
we have objected to a certain purpose which they as- 
cribe to God, on the ground that it is shocking to every 
principle of benevolence, and that the execution of it 
would forever mar and even destroy the happiness of 
heaven, they have urged that if we are saints, when we 
become inhabitants of heaven we shall not be pained 
by witnessing distress in others, for we shall then 
get rid of these human feelings of tenderness, and shall 
be like God ! If it were so, the terms righteousness^ 
4 



38 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



goodness and love, applied to God, were unmeaning 
words. They express nothing which our moral sense^ 
in this world, has any power to conceive of. Then 
they who profess to praise God for his goodness^^ 
are doing homage to. they '^know not what/*' and are 
as those who worshipped an unknoivn God,''' 

But it is not so. The spirit of cold indifference to a 
brother's or a child's sufferings, is even more ungodly 
and unheavenly, than it is inhuman. The Scriptures 
estimate that loving-kindness, that pure benevolence^ 
which feels for others' sorrows, and labors always for 
their good, as the perfection of the Christian life, and 
a oneness of spirit with God. ^' But love your enemies, 
and do good, ^ ^ and ye shall be the children of the 
highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful and the 
evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is 
merciful" (Luke vi. 35, 36.) ^'Be ye followers of 
God as dear children.'' (Eph. v. 1.) '^But I say 
unto you. Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you, do good unto them that hate you, and pray for 
them that despitefuUy use you and persecute you; 
that you may be the children of your Father Vv^iich is 
in heaven. ^ ^ Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 
44 — 48.) Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, 
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake 
hath forgiven you." (Eph. iv. 32.) ''Love is of God; 
and every one that loveth is born of God, and know- 
eth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for 
God is love." ^' And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
in God and God in him." (1 John iv.) 

Hence it is seen that the more kindly sympathetic, 
tender-hearted, and benevolent a man is, the more he 
is like God ; and that the love of God to his creatures 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



39 



is a living, active spirit of affectionate good will, de- 
siring and seeking their highest ultimate good. How 
sublime, then, in this hght of divine goodness, is the 
Scripture asseveration, that --'The Lord is good to all, 
and his tender mercies are over all his works.'' 

Some may conclude that I have noAv said enough to 
make myself understood on this part of my subject. 
But I am far from believing that such is the fact. I 
do not believe that all my readers yet fully under- 
stand the nature and magnitude of the last stated sen- 
timent. Nor, as I have intimated before, do all 
Christians virtually agree in ascribing such a char- 
acter to God. In form they will do this. They will 
say that God is a being of infinite benevolence. But 
there are many who only use the expression from 
habit, without intending to convey the meaning which 
it truly bears. They do not mean that God exercises 
a sincere and ever-active interest for the ultimate good 
of all his offspring. They believe that he has intro- 
duced into being millions of rational creatures, to be 
abandoned to the sport of endless and excruciating 
torments. This could never be the work of good- 
ness. To ascribe such works to God, and yet sa}" that 
he is an infinitely good being, sounds to us no less ab- 
surd than sa3ang, that while there is a quality in the 
climate of the frigid zone to make jjerpetual ice, it is 
yet an extremely hot and torrid climate. It is to break 
dowm all distinction between love and hatred, and to 
confound benevolence with cruelty. If there could be 
such a principle as infinite malignity, and it had at its 
command creative power, for what purpose more cruel, 
more perfectly malignant, could it force creatures into 
being, than to make their existence an infinite evil, the 
sport of unbounded torments ? 



40 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



But we are told by one class of believers in endless 
misery, that they do not ascribe to God so bad a dis- 
position, as to say that he has created any for such a 
purpose^ that they should be sufferers of such an evil : 
— but they will bring it on themselves. And we have 
no right, they say, to complain of God for what his 
creatures do, though they make themselves eternal 
losers, infinite sufferers, by their existence. My 
friends, we do not find fault with God. We adore 
him in all his works, and in all his revealed purposes 
we adore him supremely. But I am endeavoring to 
communicate to your understandings, and impress 
upon your minds, the doctrine of truth concerning the 
moral character of God. And since the same lan- 
guage which I find it necessary to employ in describ- 
ing the Divine character, is also used by those who 
differ widely from us in opinion on the Divine disposi- 
tion, I find it necessary to notice the opinions of others, 
so far as to expose what we consider their misuse of 
such language. This I must do, that when I am 
describing the character of God, I may not be misun- 
derstood. 

What do those persons mean who admit that it 
would cast a foul stain on the Divine character to say 
that God has a^eated men for endless misery, and yet 
contend that he will permit them to plunge themselves 
into the same evil? For what purpose, then, did he 
create them ? Was it that they might be ultimately 
blessed ? Then so it will be, for God can never be dis- 
appointed. Being of infinite knowledge, in the begin- 
ning of all his works he sees the result. And it is 
impossible, as we have seen, that one can seriously 
undertake a purpose which he knows will fail. If a 
part of the human family are to be finally miserable, 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



41 



God had certain knowledge of it from the beginning. In 
this certain knoAvledge he brought them forth out of 
nonentity into being ; and in the supposed state of mis- 
ery he holds them up in being forever ! For what pur-- 
pose is this ? With him who was infinitely happy in 
himself when man was not, and who saw the end from 
the beginning, for what purpose was it that he chose to 
exert his power, and force into existence those crea- 
tures, to be held up in being forever, whose existence 
he saw would be to them an endless curse ? You may 
evade this question in conversation, but you cannot 
evade it in your own understandings. 

If such a being as the world has believed in by the 
name of Satan^ had creative power, and he wished to 
bring into existence a number of creatures to be the 
final prey of evil, could he but know that such would 
be the horrid result, what would he care whether they 
were to be brought into that evil by means of their 
own use of the agency he should give them, influenced 
by cooperative circumstances in the order of things 
which he should establish, or whether it should be 
brought about by his own agency more directly ex- 
erted? 

I employ this plainness of speech, because I am on 
a subject which lies near our hearts, which we regard 
as of supreme importance, and which is all lost if it be 
misunderstood. The moral character of God^ as I 
have said, is the most important subject in theology. 
It is the foundation of all true piety and faith, and the 
standard by wliich for us to form our own moral prin- 
ciples. And if any represent the purposes^ the govern- 
ment^ the icorks of God, in such a light as to deny his 
benevolence in fact and in deed^ we care not for their 
ascribing goodness to him in name. We care not how 
4^ 



42 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN mvINIXr: 



liberal they may profess to be, how charming to the 
ear may be the music of the high-sounding epithets 
they ascribe to God. These, while they please the ear 
of men, will but blind the mind to the cause of their 
pain and uneasiness of heart, if they are not taught to 
believe and trust in God's unfailing and operative 
goodness in all his actSj — in the creation, in the gov- 
ernment, and in the final disposal of his family. How- 
ever a man may ascribe, in epithet, every possible 
perfection to God, if his mind is entangled and be- 
fogged in such doctrines, that he cannot, in unwaver- 
ing confidence, hang the safety of the universe on the 
arm of almighty Goodness, he has an aching void in 
the breast, which no earthly good, and no human doc- 
trine, can fill and satisfy. No religious teaching 
which is not salted and seasoned with this principle 
of confidence and hope, can answer to the description 
of that provision of God's house, which abundantly 
satisfies the human mind. 

On this point Dr. William E. Channing uses lan- 
guage full of just and noble sentiment. On the re- 
mark that all Christians agree in ascribing to the 
Supreme Being infinite justice, goodness, and holiness, 
he replies, ^Hhat it is very possible to speak of God mag- 
nificently, and to think of him meanly; to apply to his 
person high-sounding epithets, and to his government, 
principles that make him odious. The heathens called 
Jupiter the greatest and the best ; but his history was 
black with cruelty and lust. We cannot judge of 
men's real views of God, by their general language, 
for in all ages they have hoped to soothe the Deity by 
adulation. We must inquire into their particular 
views of his purposes, of the principles of his adminis- 
tration, and of his disposition towards his creatures.'^ 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



43 



But it will be said ^Hhe Lord is just as well as 
good^ and his justice, too, must be respected." True, 
and this is no other than the same feature of the Divine 
character on which we have been treating. What is 
justice? On this subject the mass of mankind enter- 
tain vague and chaotic views. They have made jus- 
tice to be a sort of separate and adverse divinity, 
opposed to the other moral attributes of the deity, — 
a mere vindictive spirit. It was in this view of the 
subject that the poet Young penned the absurd line 
in his ''Night Thoughts," 

"A God all mercy is a God unjust.'^ 

Such a sentiment must be a night thought^ truly, 
black as Egyptian darkness. It sets the justice and 
mercy of God at variance, dividing the Divine nature 
against itself, and throwing the Divine attributes into 
strife and confusion. It makes the Creator and Gov- 
ernor of the world to be unjust when he is merciful, 
and unmerciful when he is just. The enlightened 
worshipper of God feels his heart to revolt at this 
treatment of the Divine character. 

But the mind is happily freed from this thraldom 
of darkness, by finding that, in the Scriptures, jV^^zfice 
is righteousness^ and righteousness is justice. The 
two words are rendered, in all cases, from the same 
in the original. Where it is said the Lord is a just 
God, the same original word is used, as where we read 
in the translation that he is righteous. And so it is the 
same whether we read of just, or righteous men. Let 
the reader bear in mind then, and never forget, that 
justice and righteousness, in Scripture theology, are 
one. 

And now, What is righteousness? In all I have 



44 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



written in this chapter of the moral character of God, 
his goodness, mercy and love, I have been describing 
the constituents of his righteousness. But as this 
point is infinitely important, being that on which the 
entire body of Christian Divinity rests, and as the 
views entertained of it, by a large portion even of 
Christendom, are so exceedingly false and pernicious, 1 
shall be excused for detaining the reader a few moments 
longer upon it. 

In answer, then, to the inquiry. What is righteous- 
7iess 7 it must be said, in truth, — It is not a mere exer- 
cise of power without a motive. Nor is it an exercise 
of power with an evil and unkind motive. It consists 
in a disposition and practice according to the principle 
of right. It is, in short, doing right. And doing right 
is doing well, and doing well is doing good. Accord- 
ingly righteousness, or justice, can never be separate 
from goodness. 

There are such principles as real right and real 
wrong. And the distinction between these principles 
exists in the nature of things. No custom or fashion, 
sanctioned by the conduct of any being, however high 
and mighty, can destroy this distinction, so as to con- 
vert right into wrong, or wrong into right. As this 
distinction was never created by any previous custom, 
or arbitrary rule, no adopted custom or rule can do it 
away. 

Even the supreme Being does not make things 
morally right by performing them; but he performs 
all things which he does, because they are right. In 
all his doings he recognizes the self-existent distinction 
between right and wrong, and he reproved not his ser- 
vant Abraham for his interrogatory assertion, uttered 
in filial respect, that he was bound, by his own eternal 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



45 



nature, to do right. Shall not the Judge of all the 
earth do right? (Gen. xviii. 25.) 

But we have said that many, even in Christendom, 
entertain false and harmful views on the subject of 
right as applied to the Deity. They suppose that his 
conduct is not directed by any principle of right as 
distinguished from wrong. — but that, without refer- 
ence to the moral disposition v/ith which he should 
act, anything which his power might perform would 
be right, for the sole reason that he had done it. And 
if we venture to say, that such and such principles of 
action would be wrong, even if they could be exer- 
cised by a supreme being, they will tell us that we 
have become bold blasphemers, and expose ourselves 
to the infinite ire of God's offended justice by enter- 
taining the thought. 

If men can in this v/ay, by administering the bitter 
dregs of terror, so benumb our moral sense that we 
cannot perceive why an^^thing is right which is done 
by the supreme Being, by any other rule than that of 
his having power to perform it, then we shall not be 
startled at their requiring of us to receive a doctrine 
which ascribes to God the most evil principles of 
action. We may then have doctrines of corrupt moral 
principle forced down into our minds, without pro- 
ducing disgust, as we might have bitter and fetid food 
forced down into our stomachs, if we could be first 
induced to use a kind of drug which would destroy 
our natural taste. 

On this principle concerning right in a supreme being, 
that it consists merely in the power and sovereign 
will to do an action, without regard to moral disposi- 
tion. — suppose there were, as some heathen philoso- 
phers have believed, two self-existent supreme beings, 



46 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



of equal powers, but opposite moral dispositions. How 
would you decide which was right and which was 
wrong? How would you know which to call the 
good^ and which the evM being? Would you say the 
two gods being of opposite moral dispositions, the 
one who was benevolent towards the creatures of the 
universe, seeking their highest good, is the good being, 
— and the other, the aniel god who seeks the real evil 
of the creatures of the universe, is the evil being? 
That the former is 7nght^ and the latter lorong ? By 
what rule would you come to such a conclusion? 
Would you say the rnoral disposition of the former is 
good^ and that of the latter is bad ? That the moral 
disposition of the former is right^ and that of the latter 
is wrong? But your rule which we are now consid- 
ering will not help you to any such decision. Accord- 
ing to this rule, you are not to judge concernmg right 
in a supreme being by consideration of his moral dis- 
position. Anything is right which he may have the 
power and sovereign will to do. And in the case now 
supposed of two supreme deities, though their moral 
dispositions and actions are opposite, they both alike 
have the power and sovereign will to do whatever 
they perform. Then if power and ivill make right y 
they are both equally right, equally good, equally 
lovely, though one is the almighty friend^ and the 
other the almighty foe of the universe of creatures ! 
One is as morally right as the other, though one is 
infimteiY malevolent, and the other infinitely benevolent, 
because both alike do what they have the power and 
will to do ! 

It is upon this principle of making right to consist in 
power, that all tyrants have proceeded, when they 
have been striving for the diadem of glory, through 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



47 



works of oppression, destruction and riiinj among 
mankind. Adopting this principle concerning good- 
ness and right, suppose you go to a virtuous repubUcan 
and Christian, and pronounce before him the following 
encomiums on some earthly prince. ^-'Behold the 
evidences of his high regard to moral right. He has 
wrested from the hands of the people their hard earn- 
ings, and reduced them to poverty. He has taken 
from them their liberties, and made them slaves. And 
for his amusement he brings large numbers before him, 
and in various ways puts them to torture and to death. 
See his mighty deeds of blood and cpcrnage ; hear the 
groans of distress from his oppressed people : and in 
view of such stupendous acts of goodness, must you 
not be struck with a sense of his pure love of moral 
right?*' Surely the republican and Christian to 
whom you should deliver such harangue, would hear 
j^ou, with disgust, calling cruelty goodness.^ and power 
right. 

Bat the heathen philosophers before referred to. v^ho 
held to two supreme beings of opposite moral dispo- 
sitions, exercised common sense enough to make a 
distinction betVv^een right and wrong.. They knew 
that nothing but benevolence was goodness, and that 
nothing but goodness was right. Accordingly, their 
deity who was supposed to be full of benevolence, 
seeking the greatest good of all creatures, they called 
the good deity ; and his moral disposition they re- 
garded as the only true standard of moral right. 
They knew also that cruelty, malevolence, a disre- 
gard to the good of mankind, was bad, was wrong. 
Accordingly, their deity who was supposed to be ma- 
levolent, to seek the real injury of mankind, they 
called the evil deity ; and to imitate him they consid- 



48 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



ered morally wrong. Thus they made a just distinc- 
tion between right and wrong. 

Such distinction we must make when we consider 
the ways of God, or else we cannot do him honor. 
To say that we would adore a disposition in a su- 
preme being to do infinite injury to mankind, as being 
just as right and praiseworthy as a disposition to do 
them infinite good, is the same as to say that we 
would adore a character directly opposite to God, as 
being just as right and praiseworthy as God himself. 
It would be seen then that we had no supreme respect 
to the Divine Being, since we should profess that we 
would respect an opposite character as much as we 
respect the character which he sustains. 

We cannot render to God acceptable honor, unless 
we have a settled and enlightened disposition to 
respect only the principle of moral right. If such a 
disposition we possess, we shall respect and adore the 
God and Judge of heaven and earth, in proportion as 
we obtain a knowledge of his ways. For he will in 
all cases do right. He will not require us to regard 
any thing as right which his power niight be able to 
perform, or which makers of religious creeds may 
say he will perform. Nor will he require us to regard 
what he does perform as right, merely because he per- 
forms it, without our first understanding that all 
which he does, he does because it is right, — ^because 
it tends to the greatest good of his creatures. 

The interrogation made by Abraham recognizes a 
necessary principle of right as self-existent with God, 
by which he will regulate all his doings. Shall 
not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Though 
Abraham uttered this inquiry with reference to a 
particular occasion, yet it is founded on a principle 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 



49 



which is of universal application. In all cases God 
will do right. In the administration of rcAvards and 
punishments he will do right; and in all the plans 
and operations of his government he will do right. 
'•Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy 
throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.''^ 



a Ps. Ixxxis. 14. 

5 



CHAPTER IV. 



GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. 

I. Law is the principle or rule of action, vv^hether 
it relates to mind or matter. "The invariable ten- 
dency or determination of any species of matter to a 
particular form Vv^th definite properties, and the deter- 
mination of a body to certa-in motions, changes, and 
relations, which uniformly take place in the same cir- 
cumstances, is called a physical law. Laws of animal 
nature are the inherent principles by which the econ- 
omy and functions of animal bodies are performed ; 
laws of vegetation^ the principles by which plants are 
produced.^ Moral laiv^ is that which prescribes the 
duty of man to God, to himself, and to his fellow-crea- 
tures. And this, hke the others, has its foundation in 
the nature and relations of things. The moral law, 
comprising the principles and reasons from which 
proceed the moral duties and obligations of men, is 
inwrought with the constitution of human nature. 
And as the health and perfectness of the plant require 
the regular and harmonious action of all the principles 
which conduce to vegetative life, so the heahh and per- 
fectness of our moral nature depend upon the harmoni- 
ous action of the will and affections, with the foresaid 
principles of the moral law. 

Thet written law of God is but a revelation of the 
said constitutional lav^ as the mathematician's writ- 
ten rules are a revelation of preexisting mathematical 
truths. This revelation was needful to mankind, to 



a Noah Webster. 



GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. 



51 



give them sure knowledge of those principles, both of 
duty and happiness, to v/hich their natural ignorance 
blinded them, and from Avhich conflicting passions and 
n:>isconceptions lured them. 

And now it is a fact of immense importance to be 
borne in mind, that the author of all these laws is 
GOD. Of course they are all in havrm_ony with his 
other works, and are the arrangements and produc- 
tions of his wisdom and goodness. Take, for instance, 
the physical la^v, which relates to the forms, order, 
and motions, in the physical universe. This law 
belongs to the physical system as a part of itself It 
is not thrown in to thwart the general design of God, 
in this department of his creation, but is indispensable 
to the accomplishment of that design, What good 
purpose could have been answered by the creation of 
this earth, if it were not subjected to laws which secure 
its diurnal and annual revolutions, and the coopera- 
tion of its elements for the sustenance of animal and 
vegetable life ? Remarks of the same import may be 
made of the laics of animal nature^ and the laics of 
vegetation. They are all wasely adapted to the good 
purpose of God, in those respective departments of the 
great system of things. 

And so of the moral laio. or the law of God, pecu- 
liarly adapted to man. It is an essential part of the 
divine arrangement in the moral creation. Hence it 
is not a trap or snare, by which the Creator has con- 
trived to catch his children in such entanglement, as 
he might make an occasion for doing them an infinite 
injury. The Being, wdiose character stands portrayed, 
and that trul3", in the preceding chapter, could never 
have been the author of such a law,— could never 
have conceived so malignant a design. He, who has 



62 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



made the laws of physical nature, to be so wisely 
adapted to the good designs of the physical system, has 
not failed to do as much for the crowning work of his 
CREATION. The law of God to man is an arrangement 
for carrying on his benevolent purpose in this, his 
highest creation. And for this God-honoring and 
trustful sentiment, we are not left alone to reason's 
inductions from the Divine character. The supreme 
Lawgiver has caused to be inserted in the book 
which reveals his law, the following explicit exposi- 
tion of its spirit and design: -'And the Lord com- 
manded us to do all these statutes, and to fear the 
Lord our God, for our good always."^ 

And what other aim could the Creator have in 
giving laws to his children, than their good ] Will 
you say that he aimed at tlie promotion of his own 
glory? His essential glory was infinite before men or 
angels had a being ; and he was happy in his own 
eternal perfections. And his declarative glory — what 
is it? It is the display of his glorious perfections to 
the understandings of his creatures. For what object? 
For a mere display of himself, without regard to their 
good? Vfould you be so blasphemous as to ascribe to 
the Divine Being a vain pride ] My blood curdles at 
the thought. I am horror-stricken, when I think that 
some men have represented that the declarative glory 
of God is a mere show of strength, a sj^ort as it were 
of power, regardless of the welfare, or inflictive^ rather, 
of the final evil of his children ! The declarative 
glory of God is the display of his glorious perfections, 
all of which centre in his goodness. This display of 
his glory, of course, which he makes to his creatures, is, 
through his wise and benevolent, his wonderful and 



b Deut. vi. 4. 



GOD AS THE LAWGIVER. 



53 



glorious arrangements, designed for the promotion of 
his creatures' happiness. Since, therefore, the glory 
of God is the good of his children ; to say that he 
aimed, in giving laws to his children, at the promotion 
of his own glory, is the same as to say, that he aimed 
at their good. 

It should consequently be the chief concern of the 
moral teacher, to influence the people's minds in their 
choice of conduct, by enlightening them into a dis- 
covery of the eternal connexion between duty and 
happiness. This will be coming home to the very 
principles of their nature, and the omnipotent springs 
of action. They want happiness, — they love their own 
good: — and let them be brought out of the deceived 
belief that their good may be found in doing wrong, 
to know the reason and ground of their duties, and 
that they are all commanded of God, for their good 
always, and then their free choice of obedience will be 
secured. With them self-love and social love will 
then become the same. They will see the law of God. 
and their own individual happiness, and the happiness 
of the community in which they live, to be connected 
links in one golden chain, which is fastened to the 
throne of the Eternal. 

II. To illustrate the sentiment above established, 
and evince more practically the goodness of God, in 
the institution of law for mxan, we will look at some 
of its particular requirements in their application to 
human life. Take the Decalogue, for instance, as a 
summary of duty to God and fellow-man. 

1. The first division of the Decalogue relates to 
our duty to God, involving, of course, our duty to our- 
selves. It prohibits all idolatry, and enjoins the single 
5=^ 



54 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



worship of the one only Uving and true God." This is a 
kind provision for human improvement and happiness. 
It inckides not the requisite form alone, but also the 
spirit of devotion to God. It involves supreme love, 
approbation and respect of the Divine character, — 
thankfulness for the Divine favors, — and a looking to 
God for direction, and for all needed good. In short, 
this part of the Decalogue is, by our Saviour, summed 
up in this, Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind.''^ 

It is obvious to sober reflection, that the doing of 
this great and primary requisition of the law, must be 
productive of the most sublime enjoyment, the most 
high and exalted happiness. To put our minds to that 
study of evidence, by which we attain to that knowl- 
edge of God, that acquaintance with his adorable per- 
fections, whereby we come into possession of supreme 
love to him, this is coming into the privilege of trust- 
ing God, and feeling safe in his care. For we can 
never fear harm from one we supremely love. If we 
love God with all the heart, we must view him in his 
moral character to be supremely trustworthy. Hence, 
the apostle's saying, Perfect love casteth out fear,'' 
because fear hath torment. To enjoy communion with ' 
the all-pervading presence of the Deity, to worship 
him in spirit and in truth, to hope in his almighty 
goodness, and to rest confidingly in his kind paternal 
care, this is the chief good of man. Nothing else can 
equal it. 

Now while the worship of the true God, in the 
adorable character in which he is presented in the 
Scriptures, as also exhibited in the preceding chapter 



« Ex. XX. 1—7. 



d Matt. xxii. 37. 



NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. 



56 



of this work J tends to such elevation of mind, and 
such confidence and peace, it also tends to purify the 
mind, — to assimilate, it to the moral image of the holy- 
object of worship. On the other hand, the worship of 
idols, or false gods, who are always made to partake 
of the corruptness of their debased inventors, both tends 
to a restless, perturbed state of the mind, and a down- 
ward course of human character. 

Thus far, then, in the law of God, we find the 
kindest regard for the welfare of man. 

The prohibition oi profanity is included in that part 
of the law which we have noticed above ; as the pro- 
fane and obscene use of the name of God is an act of 
irreverence, and has a tendency to the growth and 
spread of irreverence towards God. Hence its practice 
and influence robs man of the supreme good above 
described, and violates the law of love and devotion 
to the Father. 

The appointment of the Sabbath^ or one day in 
seven for rest from ordinary labor and care, may also 
be included under the head of duties to God ; though, 
like all duties to God, it involves our duties to our- 
selves and mankind. It is a wise and good provision 
for man, who is ever eager to push his Avorldly inter- 
ests forward, that there should be a suitable time of 
respite, for bodily rest and mental cultivation, fixed 
for him by authority. And this arrangement is an 
indispensable means for promoting obedience to all the 
other commandments of the law. 

2. The second division of the law relates directly 
to our conduct towards our fellow-men.® It requires 
children to honor their parents ; which involves the 
duty of love and respect while under their care, and 



e Ex. XX. 12—17. 



56 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



of nourishing and sustaining their dechning years. It 
prohibits murder^ and adultery^ and tlieft^ and false 
loitness^ and all coveiousness, that bane of social 
friendship and peace. All this, too, the great Tea^cher 
sums up in one word, love, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself '' ^ And this commandment he 
esteems as hke unto the first, that of love to God. 
For he who loves the Lord, who is '-good unto all," 
loves the spirit of universal goodness, and loves of 
course the other objects of the Father's love, his other 
children. So then, '-he that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God, — for God is love.'' ^-And this com- 
mandment have we from him, that he who loveth 
God, love his brother also."° 

Is not this commandment good for man ? Picture to 
yourselves a neighborhood where all are walking in 
obedience to it. Is a neighbor distressed ? Does trou- 
ble press upon his family 7 They all sympathize. 
The hand of kind aifection is stretched out, the balm 
of consolation is applied, and the distressed are restored 
to joy and gladness. Is one of them prosperous ? Does 
he receive a blessing which adds to the happiness of 
himself and his beloved family? They all rejoice. 
Being in the spirit of fraternal love, they think not to 
derive happiness from each other's miseries, but the 
happiness of each adds to that of all, and the happi- 
ness of all to that of each. 

What a heavenly scene is this ! Husbands and 
wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, kin- 
dreds and neighbors, all bound by the strong ties of 
sincere affection, walking on, and aiding each other 
on, in the path of perfection and felicity. 

Finally, you may descend to particulars, in respect 



f Matt. xxii. 39. 



g 1 John iv. 7, 8, 2!. 



NATURE AND DESIGN OF THE LAW. 



57 



to all the duties involved in the principles of the divine 
law, and yon will find them all to be necessarily con- 
nected with our best good, our highest happiness in 
hfe. Consider the duty of love and obedience to God ; 
our duty to ourselves, to cultivate the mind, to im- 
prove ourselves in all the moral graces, and to use the 
good gifts of Providence in conformity with the rule 
of temperance in all things ; and our duties to man- 
kind, to exercise good-will to all, to be kind and for- 
giving, just and true, sympathetic and helpful, to strive 
for the general good. He who, in all these things, 
obeys the Creator's law, rests in cheerful hope in God. 
His time is occupied in some useful employment, in 
the business of doing good. He walks among man- 
kind with the fearless majesty of moral integrity and 
truth ; and his mind, the mirror of heaven, is the clear, 
the calm, and the pure receptacle of happiness serene, 
rational, abiding. His heart responds, amen, to the 
inspired description of wisdom's service ; — Her 
ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon 
her, and happy is every one that retaineth her."^ 

O how miserably dark is the mind of that man who 
lives in violation of the Father's laws; — or of him 
who, though a professor of religion, declares that if it 
were not for his fear of foreign and extraneous punish- 
ments of infinite magnitude, he would seek his greater 

\ good in a life of sin ! The serpent hath deceived him. 
Let him pull the scales from his eyes, just to take one 

' sober look at the condition he aspires to. An apostate 
from the iv or ship of God^ an alien from communion 
with the Father of mercies^ neglectirig the means of self- 
improvement^ practising intemperance and self -defile- 

i^Prov. iii. 17, 18. 

h 



i 



58 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



merit ^ living in envy and malice^ hateful^ false ^ and 
treaeherons to mankind. Are these the constituents 
of the wished-for good? They are deep, throbbing, 
putrid sores to human hfe. And if the poor, tempted 
soul had but open eyes to see, he would start back 
with horror from the moral charnel house of sin, to 
which his deluded steps are hastening. Then, too, 
on tasting the bliss which pure obedience yields, 
would his spirit glow with rapture in the chant of the 
royal poet's song, descriptive of the moral law : 

" The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul j 
The testimony of the Lord is sure^ making ■\^-ise the simple j 
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart ; 
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ; 
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever • 
The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold \ 
Sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb. 
Moreover by them is thy servant warned ; 
And in keeping of them there is great reward."^ 

This truth then is established ;— that the law of 
God to man, is the law of a Father, instituted in wis- 
dom and love, for the children's good. From this 
doctrine who dissents 7 None. Then none will refuse 
to accompany me into the subject of the succeeding 
chapter. 



iPs. xix. 7—11. 



CHAPTER V. 

PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



SECTION I. 

Nature and Design of the Penalties. 

We have considered the law of God to man. in its 
wise adaptedness and benevolent design. And we 
have seen and admired the reward of obedience, which 
consists in all those physical and moral advantages 
and blessings, in all that healthfulness and happiness 
and glory, for the production of which the law was 
given. And in all this we have seen renewed and 
multipHed manifestations of the wisdom and goodness 
of God, and his kind regard for his children. In this 
subject, indeed, we find those provisions and arrange- 
ments which involve the highest blessings which be- 
long to the inheritance of man. For without the 
moral nature, which renders him a proper subject of 
law, and an accountable being, subject to conscious 
approbation or guilt according to his conduct in rela- 
tion to the law, he could not have been capable of 
those high and sublime enjoyments, which are de- 
signed for man as the child -of God. 

But the law has its penalties for transgressors. In 
connexion with the very first instruction given to man 
in relation to his course of duty, he was admonished 
of evil as the fruit of disobedience. And novvr it is the 
purpose of this chapter to bring out into a clear light 
the nature and design of those penal sufferings. 

And here it is safe to presume, in the outset, that 
the penalties of the law are not designed to thwart 



60 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



God's purpose in the law itself. Let the reader dis- 
pense with all haste now, and think Avith slow, candid 
deliberation. For here we enter upon a subject which 
is at the foimdation of all religious controversy in 
Christendom. 

It has been asserted that the penalty of the law is 
endless punishmentj to be inflicted in a future immor- 
tal state of being ; and that any act of disobedience 
subjects man, by the rule of law. to an eternity of 
woe. This makes the penal part of the law to be at 
war with the spirit and design of the law itself. God 
has created man an intelligent and moral being, and 
given him a law adapted to his moral constitution, and 
kindly designed, as we have seen, for the production 
of happiness. He has also, for a wise purpose, placed 
the moral nature of man in connexion with a ph3^sical 
nature of such appetites and passions as subject him 
to various temptations and trials. And now, the doc- 
trine which we have just named, represents, that God 
has annexed to his wise and good law a penalty, 
which, if executed according to its true intent and 
meaning, would, upon any act of transgression, cut 
man at once and forever off from all subsequent privi- 
lege of living in the very law of his moral nature, and 
make his endless existence an endless evil ! The mo- 
ment you come in contact with this item of theological 
belief, you feel a chill as from the touch of death, and 
are conscious of having passed out of the path of that 
true Divinity,'^ in which we have been walking, into 
the invention of a depraved human mind. That doc- 
trine which makes the penalty of God's law to coun- 
teract the very design of the law itself, and to be the 
instrument of infinite ruin to his children, can have no 
foundation in the works and ways of the living and 
true God, whose wisdom and love are so wonderfully 



NATURE OF THE PENALTIES. 



61 



evinced in the plans and arrangements of his crea- 
tion. 

Who of our readers, without shutting his eyes, and 
doing violence to his own moral sense, can dissent from 
this proposition, — to vvnt; that as the penalties are the 
work of the same Lawgiver, and compose a part of 
the legal system, which we have seen to be so wise 
and good, they are designed to promote the good pur- 
pose of the law? They are intended to be preventive 
and curative in their operation, conducing to obedience. 
Of course, punishment is not designed to be endless, 
because it is not an ultimate end of the Divine admin- 
istration, but a means, looking always to an end in 
correction. 

This wise penal arrangement of the moral law bears 
a striking analogy with a corresponding feature in the 
law of physical nature. There is an infraction of the 
law of physical health, by improper diet, or by a 
wound upon the body. This infraction is followed by 
physical pain. The knowledge of the connexion be- 
tween such infraction and the consequent pain, tends 
to put men on their guard against the former ; and the 
suffering of the pain upon the occurrence of the infrac- 
tion, stimulates to the application of remedies. So far 
then the government of God is in harmony with itself, 
and with all the harmonious Divine perfections. And 
so we shall find a beautiful harmony running through 
all parts and principles of the entire body of CHRIS- 
TIAN DIVINITY.'^ 

By an appeal to the Scriptures, we shall find the 
sentiment established by authority, to which the spirit 
of the law itself has driven us, touching the character 
of its penalties. For a sample of the Scripture ex- 
positions of the design of punishment, see Lev. xxvi. 
6 



62 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



14, and onward. ^^But if ye will not hearken unto 
me, and will not do all these commandments ; and if 

ye despise my statutes, I also will do this unto 

you ; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, 
and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, 
and cause sorrow of heart : and ye shall sow your 
seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." 

And if ye to ill not yet for all this hearken unto me, 
then I will punish you yet seven times more for your 
sins. I will break the pride of your power ; and I will 
make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. 
And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your 
land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees 
of the field yield their fruits." ^ ^ 

And if ye will not be reformed by me by these 
things^ but loill walk contrary unto me^ then I will also 
walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven 
times for your sins," &c. 

Here the sentiment is declared, and repeated over 
and over, that the sole object in view by all these in- 
flictions of punishment was the amendment of the 
people. Punishment after punishment was to be 
added, in case they would not be humbled and re- 
formed : and even when the last degree of punishment 
should be inflicted, and they should be broken up as a 
nation, and scattered abroad and trodden under foot 
of all nations, and they should pine away in their 
iniquities in their enemies' lands, it is added, (v. 40,) 
^'If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity 
of their fathers ; — if then their uncircumcised hearts be 
humbled, and they then accept the punishment of 
their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant 

with Jacob, I will not cast them away to destroy 

them utterly, for I am the Lord their God." 



DESIGN OF THE PENALTIES. 



63 



In a case where the people had become bhnd and 
stupid in their sins and sufferings, and were tending 
to a state of desperation, the Lord said by his prophet, 
(Isa. i. 5,) "Why should ye be stricken any more? 
Ye will revolt more and more ; the whole head is sick 
and the whole heart is faint.'' Here we have the sen- 
timent, as belonging to the principle of the Divine 
administration, that it is not meet that punishment 
should be inflicted beyond the point of its tendency to 
good. And in the succeeding part of the chapter last 
referred to, a different moral process is graciously prom- 
ised, by which to aff'ect the people's hearts with a sense 
of the Divine goodness, and of their own ingratitude 
and folly, and to turn them from their evil ways. 

The cases which we have now quoted refer rather 
to Israel in their national capacity ; but they elucidate 
the principle on which punishment is administered 
in all cases, upon nations and individuals. Though 
God made a special revelation of the law of duty and 
happiness to Israel, as he did not at the same time to 
other nations, yet he favored them all with such ca- 
pacities and means of knowledge as to their primary 
duties, that they were not without law. As the 
apostle says, '-'they are a law unto themselves, — 
which shew the work of the law written in their 
hearts.''^ And the same Father is their Maker, Law- 
giver and Judge. Though he is, with reference to a 
special covenant made for a wise purpose with Israel, 
often called the God. of Israel^ yet the Scriptures do 
not represent him as a titular deity. He is expressly 
declared to be the God of the whole earth ;^ the God 
of the spirits of all flesh the Creator of the heavens 
and the earth, and all things in them;^ the Judge 

a Rom. ii. 14, 13. ^ Isa. liv. 5. 

c xSum. xvi. 22. d Gen. i. Acts xvii. 24. 



64 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

among the nations.^ And with regard to the primitive 
dispensations of his law over all men, they are of the 
same benevolent character as those described as hav- 
ing primary reference to Israel. The royal psalmist, 
in view of Jehovah's administration of law in general, 
was inspired to sing, "Also unto thee, O Lord, be- 
longeth mercy, for thou renderest unto every man 
according to his work.'*^ So clearly did the psalmist 
view the penalties of the law to be merciful in their 
spirit and design. If he had been contemplating the 
execution of such relentless vengeance as should make 
countless millions of God's children curse him, and j 
curse their own existence, howling eternity away in j 
imavailing wishes to sink back into the quiet of non- i 
existence — surely the vision would not have suggested 
the motions of infinite mercy. In vain do we look 
for such pictures in the word of God. 

In relation to the design of punishment, the Scrip- 
tures employ even more expressive and affecting de- 
scriptions than those already adduced. Wisdom says, 
in her instructions to the erring children of men, 
^^My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; 
neither be weary of his correction : for whom the 
Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in 
whom he delighteth.''' And St. Paul says to the He- ^ 
brews, (xii. 5, 6.) "And ye have forgotten the exhor- | 
tation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My - 
son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint 
when thou art rebuked of him : for whom the Lord i 
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom 
he receiveth." In the light of this principle, the pro- 
phet Jeremiah, bewailing the most direful calamities I 
of his apostate and cast-off people, submissively ex- ^ 

e Ps. scvi. f Ps. Ixii. 12. g Prov. iii. ll, 12. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



65 



claimSj '^Wherefore doth a living man complain, a 
man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search 
and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.''^ 
{Surely the assertion^ lohich is often heard from cer- 
tain quarters^ that this life is not a state of retribution^ 
is as false as the Bible is true.] Here also, as through- 
out the Bible, the truth shines out in cloudless noon- 
light, that Avhile the laAY subjects transgressors to 
adequate punishment, it administers its penalties upon 
such a principle, that no man on earth has occasion 
to complain of it. For it is designed to humble and 
correct the sufferers. 

With regard to the nature or consistence of pun- 
ishment, it is represented in the Scriptures as consist- 
ing of those evils, in kind and degree, which legiti- 
mately appertain to the kind and degree of sins. It 
involves the deprivation of those blessings which 
are abused, and the suffering of those positive evils 
which are connected with the positive wrongs. If a 
person neglects the cultivation of his m.ind, his life is 
barren of the amiable graces and rich enjoyments of 
good mental culture. If he abuses the social and do- 
mestic relations, those relations become so many sores 
and annoyances to him, as they should be sources of 
pleasure. If he violates any of the laws of his nature, 
those laAvs, respectively, will take their appropriate 
vengeance upon him. And these appropriate evils are 
urged upon human consideration, by the inspired 
teachers, as the proper and every-day motives, so far 
as the fear of evil is designed to furnish motives, for 
restraint, self-government, and virtuous living. 

The wise man, for instance, in dissuading men from 
the violation of the law of temperance^ expostulates 

hLam. iii, 39,40. 

6* 



66 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



thus: Who hath woe 7 who hath sorrow ? who hath 
contentions? who hath babbhng? who hath wounds 
without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that 
tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed 
wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, 
when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth 
itself aright. At last it biteth like a serpent and sting- 
eth like an adder.''' And in relation to the trans- 
gression of the law of personal chastity, besides those 
burning plagues which must constantly consume the 
heart, he gives a startling picture of the dreadful phys- 
ical result if seasonable repentance is not induced— 

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy 
body are consumed."^ 

This legitimate mode of punishment, as a general 
rule, is very comprehensively expressed by the inspired 
penman, thus: ''Thine own wickedness shall correct 
thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee.'' ^ " His 
own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he 
shall be holden with the cords of his sins."^ ''The 
soul that smneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear 
the iniquity of the father ; neither shall the father bear 
the iniquity of the son ; the righteousness of the righ- 
teous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the 
wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will 
turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and 
keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and 
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ^ ^ In 
his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. But 
when the righteous turneth away from his righteous- 
ness and committeth iniquity, ^ in his trespass that 



i Prov, xxiii. 29 — 32. 
^ Jer. ii. 19. 



j Prov. V. 11. 
1 Prov. V. 22. 



NATURE OF THE PENALTIES. 



67 



he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, 
in them shall he die.""^ 

How clearly is the sentiment here expressed, that if 
men transgress the IdiVj-^ its penalty is miavoidable, 
and is comprised in the evils in which the transgres- 
sions involve them. The death here spoken of as the 
wages of sin, is not an extraneous punishment to be 
inflicted in another world in revenge for sins in this. 
It is a deprivation of good, suffered m sin. Li his 
sin that he hath sinned, he shall die." Yes, and such 
is this death, that he who has been wicked a part of 
his life shall have suffered it i?i his siii^ — and being 
reformed, shall be free from it ; — for in his righteous- 
ness that he doeth he shall live.^^ 

The New Testament writers explain this penal 
death in sin, with much precision. What fruit had 
ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for 
the end (i. e. the fruit which they had received) of 
these things is death.'"' ^'For to be carnally minded 
is death. * =^ If ye live after the flesh ye shall 
die." ° Among whom also we all had our conversa- 
tion in times past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling 
the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by 
nature the children of wrath, even as others." ^ ^- You 
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and 
in sins."^ ''We know that we have passed from 
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He 
that loveth not his brother abideth in death.''' And 
this is the description of the penalty revealed to our 
first progenitors. '• In the day thou eatest thereof, (or 
sinnest.) thou shalt surely die."' 

Jesus Christ, the religious teacher's model of moral 

^ Ezek. xviii. 20—22. ^ Rom. vi. 21. o Rom. viii. 6, 13. 
P Eph. ii. 3. q Eph. ii. l r i John iii. 14. ^ Gen. u. 17. 



6S 



C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



faithfulness, was likewise in the familiar habit of 
warning mankind against the manner of sins which 
he saw them inclined to. by consideration of those 
penalties in particular, to which their darling sins ex- 
posed them. When he healed the impotent man. Yv'ho 
it seems had brought disease upon himself by his own 
misdeeds, he kindly said unto hini; Sin no more, lest 
a worse thing come unto thee."' The idea is. that if 
he should return to his evil practices, his troubles too 
would return upon him. even with increased severity. 
But when he addressed the self-righteous Scribes and 
Pharisees, whose leading sins were irreverence, self- 
ishness, pride, turbulence and oppression, he grasped 
and laid before them the sufferings which he saw im- 
pending over their manner of moral corruptness. At 
one time some of them came and told him of the Gali- 
leans whose blood Pilate mmgled with their sacrifices. 
And Jesus answering said unto them. '-vSuppose ye 
that these Galileans were sinners above all the Gali- 
leans; because they suffered such things ? I tell you, 
nay : but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. 
Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of vSiloam fell, 
and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above 
all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you, nay : 
but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.'"'' 

Now it is the practice of some religious teachers to 
take this particular language of Jesus, which he ap- 
plied to a particular people on a special occasion, with 
reference to a peculiar exposure of theirs, and apply 
it indiscriminately to all. '-Ye shall all likewise 
perish.'-' Perish how? and //Are whom ? Like those 
upon whom the tower of Siloam Tell, and whose blood 
Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. How miserably 



t John vi. 14. 



Luke xii. 1 — 5. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



69 



qualified then to '^rightly divide the word of truth/' 
are those who stand up and harangue the virtuous 
and pure, whom the preacher would hardly accuse 
of a faultj except, perhaps, in respect to their form of 
faith, and menace them with the saying, Except ye 
repent ye shall all likewise perish/"' What reason 
would they give for threatening their friends, for some 
ordinary errors, with destruction like that inflicted 
upon the Galileans, when Pilate slew them around the 
altar upon which they were laying their offerings? 
None, surely, but that they knew not whereof they 
affirmed. But with regard to the people to whom 
Jesus applied this warning, thousands and thousands 
of them did perish by the fall of towers and walls, and 
by fire and sword, when they had come up to the great 
religious sacrifice in Jerusalem. And they perished in 
their national capacity under these calamities. Ac- 
cordingly they did perish likewise as did those upon 
whom the tower of Siloam fell, and whose blood 
Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus, 
knowing their real exposure, gave them just and ap- 
propriate warning in the words we have quoted. 
What a beauty and force there would be in the moral 
teachings and warnings of the pulpit, if the teachers 
would all learn wisdom from the Scriptures. 

For another instructive specimen of the inspired 
teachings of legal penalties, I will refer the reader to 
St. PauL In urging upon his brethren the most im- 
pressive warnings against the vices to which they 
were most likely to be tem^pted, he arrays before them 
a catalogue of striking examples. ^- But with many 
of them (the ancient Hebrews) God was not well 
pleased ; for they were overthrown in the* wilder- 
ness. Now these things were our examples, to the 



70 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



intent we should not lust after evil things as they 
also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of 
them. ^ ^ Neither let us commit fornication, as some 
of them committed, and fell in one day three and 
twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as 
some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of ser- 
pents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also mur- 
mured, and were destroyed of the destroyer,'' — i. e. the 
plague. ^'Now all these things happened unto them 
for ensamples : and they are written for our admonition, 
upon whom the ends of the Vv^orld {aionoii. ages) are 
come 

When we witness these earnest and appropriate 
Scripture teachings, in relation to the real evils of sin, 
the legitimate penalties of God's lavv^, we deplore the 
defection of the middle and modern ages. We see a host 
of teachers, grave and gay, who have lost sight of all 
these sober realities, and are diverting the minds of 
the people with off-hand declamation of fabulous ter- 
rors. ^'To the law and to the testimony; if they 
speak not according to this word, it is because there is 
no light in them.'^'^ 

Some of the punishments enumerated in cases which 
we have noticed, were inflicted more immediately by 
the hand of God than punishments usually are; but 
these were cases where the people had sinned against 
Divine requirements more specially revealed to them, — 
and they were designed also to demonstrate that judg- 
ment is of the Lord, and we are amenable to him ; 
that though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not 
be unpunished." 

The reader has now been led into a view of the 
Scripture teachings on the subject sufficiently exten- 

^ i Cor. X. 5—11. «^Isa. viii. 20. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



71 



sive to settle the question as to the nature and design 
of punishment denounced by the law, and its harmony 
with the spirit and purpose of the law itself Yet 
some may urge that there are terms employed to ex- 
press the punishment of sin, and others to qualify it, 
which contradict this philosophical and Bible view of 
it, and prove it to be endless. Let there be no haste 
here. He who would make a qualifying word prove 
the endlessness of punishment, may make it prove none 
at all ; for he may thus destroy the Bible testimony. 
We have seen what the Scriptures prove of the perfec- 
tions of the Creator, and of the wise and good design 
of his laws to his children, and of the accordant spirit 
and purpose of the annexed penalties. Thus much is 
established, not by a doubtful criticism of a word, but 
by the plain every-day descriptions of these things 
themselves, in their nature, and their relations to one 
another. And now it must be a rash hand which 
would essay, by a doubtful word, to break up the entire 
concurrent force of the Divine nature and the primary 
and common teachings of the revealed Word. 

To illustrate, I will present a brief summary from 
the book of the law, of its severest penalties. It is a 
sort of judicial summary made out by the Lawgiver 
himself, declaring that, if any man, or woman, or 
family, or tribe of Israel, should forsake the Lord God 
of their fathers, ^' The Lord shall separate him unto 
evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the 
curses of the covenant that are written in this book of 
the law. So that the generation to come of your 
children, that shall rise up after you, and the strangers 
that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they 
see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which 
the Lord hath laid upon it, -^^ ^ ^ ^ even all nations 



72 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto 
this land? What meaneth the heat of this great 
anger? Then men shall say, Because they have for- 
saken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, 
^ ^ * ^ and the anger of the Lord was kindled 
against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that 
are written in this book.'' ^ 

Here we have the direct and explicit declaration of the 
book of the law itself, that such is the amount of all the 
curses, all the punishments, written in it, that their full 
execution should be witnessed by him who should be- 
hold the miseries of the transgressors in the land of 
their habitation. The meaning in this case is express^ 
explanatory, and unmistakable. He, therefore, who un- 
dertakes to prove from some qualifying term elsewhere 
applied to punishment, that the proper curse or pen- 
alty of the revealed law is endless suffering in the 
future world, virtually undertakes to prove that the 
testimony just quoted from the law is false. It cannot 
be pretended that by such an effort he only charges 
me with misconstruing the law. There is no con- 
struction of mine in the case. The passage quoted 
cannot be explained ; for it stands itself an explanation 
of the legal penalties. It distinctly avers that in 
pouring upon the people those plagues and sicknesses 
which should desolate their land, the Lord would 
bring upon them all the classes written m the book of 
the law. 

SECTION II. 

Controverted Terms^ Designating and Qualifying 
Punishment, 

And now what are the terms, designating and quali- 
fying punishment in other cases, which indicate any 

^Deut. xxix. 18—28. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



73 



new system of Divine retribution, or change the pres- 
ent hght of the subject ? It will be answered that the 
descriptive term referred to is hell^ and the qualifying 
term is everlasting or eternal. To these, then, we will 
attend, briefly, and with care. 

1. The word hell. This is in the original Hebrew, 
sheol^ and has its meaning well expressed in the Sep- 
tuagint, by the Greek hades. This latter word is 
defined by the lexicons to signify literally unseen, 
dark, covered, hidden. And it is accordingly applied to 
the state of the dead, as denoting it to be an unseen 
state. To this word, in its literal meaning, the Eng- 
lish, or rather Saxon word, hell, exactly corresponded 
in its former usage. Dr. Parkhurst says, that in some 
of the eastern, and especially in the western counties 
in England, the word is used in that primitive sense 
now. To hele over a thing is to cover it.'*^ Hence 
it is seen that this word literally expresses nothing in 
opposition to the teachings of the law, before con- 
sidered, in relation to its penalties. The use of the 
word hell for punishment, would most hterally indicate 
a state of darkness, or at most the destruction of life. 

We grant, however, that a word may be used in 
some other than its primary and literal meaning. It 
may be used figuratively. But you must be careful 
how you force a figurative construction upon a word, 
which shall make it contradict the most positive and 
literal doctrines of the Bible. Figurative passages 
cannot be taken for nev/ revelations, but only for em- 
bellishments and illustrations of known truth. Con- 
sequently, we must construe a figurative passage in 
relation to a given subject, in accordance with the 

y Parkhurst's Gr. and Eng. Lex. on hades. See also, to the same purport, 
Dr. A, Clark's Commentary, on Matt. xi. 23. 

7 



74 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



general scope of the Divine testimony on that subject^ 
taking into consideration the immediate occasion on 
which it is spoken or Avritten, and following out the 
figure in its most natural bearing upon the subject. 

And now, that the bearing of this term upon the pen- 
alties of the law may be fully understood, I will present 
the reader with all the cases of its occurrence in the 
books of the law, or the five books of Moses. The 
first instance of the use of this word in the Bible, is in 
Jacob's lamentation for the loss of his son Joseph. I 
will go down into the grave, {hades,) unto my son 
mourning." The same was repeated by Judah, in his 
eloquent plea for Benjamin before Joseph in Egypt.' 
None will say that the word, is used here for a state 
of endless misery, — for surely Jacob did not expect to 
go into such a state, and to find his beloved Joseph 
there. Neither did he mean by it any particular grave 
or sepulchre ; for he did not suppose that Joseph was 
buried in a grave, believing that he was devoured of 
an evil beast. He meant by it the unseen state of 
death. 

The only other case of the use of this word in the 
Pentateuch, is in Deut. xxxii. 22. ^'For a fire is 
kindled in mine anger, and it shall burn to the lowest 
hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and 
set on fire the foundations of the mountains." It reads 
on as follows : — "I will heap mischiefs upon them; I 
will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be 
burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, 
and with bitter destruction. ^ ^ The sword without 
and terror within, shall destroy both the young man 
and maiden," &c. This, therefore, is the revelation 
of no new description of penalty, but a warning given 

z Gen. xxxvii. 35 ; xlii. 38 ; xliv. 29, 31. 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 75 



to the people, on account of idolatry, of their exposure 
to just such calamities as v/e have before seen were 
denounced upon apostates in the book of the law. By 
the loicest hellin this case, is obviously meant the darkest 
and deepest hiding places of the earth. The threat- 
ened calamities should reach them, though they might 
hide in the deepest caverns, and dig into the bottoms 
of the mountains. "'A fire is kindled in mine anger, 
and it shall burn to the lowest hades, and shall con- 
sume the earth with her increase, and shall set on fire 
the foundations of the mountains.''' 

A similar description of an unescapable calamity is 
given by the prophet Amios, (ix. 2.) Though they 
dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them." No 
one will suppose that the people would think of dig- 
ging into a place of endless, unmitigated torment, to 
escape danger, nor that the Lord would take them out 
of such a place to punish them. The word hades is 
used in this place, as in that last quoted from Moses, 
according to its literal meaning, for a dark secret hid- 
ing place. Though they dig into hades ^ thence 
shall my hand take them ; though they climb up to 
heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though 
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will 
search and take them out thence ; and though they be 
hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will 
I command the serpent, and he shall bite them." 
Thus does the connexion render it plain that a tempo- 
ral judgment is the subject of this prophecy, and that 
the strong language employed is poetically descriptive 
of its unavoidable prevalence, 

I have gone out of the Pentateuch for this quota- 
tion, barely for an illustration. The reader has now 
placed before him all the instances of the use of the 



76 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



word hades^ or hell, in all the books of the law. And 
none can fail to see that its use neither teaches nor 
intimates any sentiment in the least at variance with 
the general teachings of the law in relation to its pen- 
alties. 

Then no different doctrine on the subject of pun- 
ishment will be found in the Old Testament. To 
this position I call the attention of the Christian world. 
The Pentateuch contains the entire legal covenant^ the 
revelation of the moral law and the institution of the 
ceremonial, with the appropriate penalties. The entire 
system of God's revelation to his earthly children is 
comprised in two parts, the law and the gospel. The 
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
Jesus Christ.''^ And the historical and prophetic 
books of the Old Testament contain no new legal cov- 
enant, no new principles of law, or of judgment. The 
prophets were teachers and watchmen unto the house I 
of Israel, to teach them out of the law, and to warn 
them, according to the word of the Lord, of any im- 
pending judgments. But the judgments of which the 
prophets gave warning, were those v/hich should be 
founded upon the principles of the revealed law, ac- 
cording to the curses Vvrritten in that book. I, there- 
fore, call upon all Christians to reflect, that as they 
will not pretend that endless punishment is a penalty 
revealed in the law of Moses, they cannot find it in any 
of the prophetic narratives or warnings of judgment in 
the administration of the law. And if they force an 
unnecessary meaning upon a disputed word to make 
out an illegal penalty^ they do violence to the Scrip- 
tures, and to the honor of God. 

In what covenant^ then^ shall we find the penalty of 

a John i. 17. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



77 



endless torment? The only other covenant is the 
gospel; but this is the covenant of grace. It does not 
open unheard-of stores of wrath and vengeance for 
feeble mortals, but it reveals a stupendous moral sys- 
tem of divine operation, by which even to save man- 
kind from sin itself, that they may thus be saved from 
the condemnation of the law. Accordingly, the word 
of God, setting forth the terms of the second covenant, 
says, But now hath he (Christ) obtained a more ex- 
cellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator 
of a better covenant, Avhich was established upon 
better promises. ^ ^ For this is the covenant that I 
will make with the house of Israel after those days, 
saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their minds, 
and write them in their hearts. ^ ^ All shall know 
me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be mer- 
ciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and ini- 
quities will I remember no more."^' So, while the 
law commands men to be holy, and denounces pun- 
ishment upon disobedience, the gospel undertakes, by 
the merciful influences of truth and grace, to inspire 
men with the love of holiness, thus to fulfil the law in 
their hearts. Hence, in the reception of this covenant 
an apostle says, For God hath not given us the spirit 
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound 
mind.*'' And again; For ye are not come unto the 
mount that might be touched, and that burned with 
fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words ; 
which voice they that heard intreated that the word 
should not be spoken to them any more; ^ ^ ^ But 
ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.""^ 

b Heb. viii. 6—12. c 2 Tim. i. 7. ^ Heb. xii. 18—22. 
7# 



78 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



In these cases, and in all cases of contrast between 
the two covenants, the second is described as having 
less of the ingredient of fear in it than the first. 
Therefore nothing can be more safely and confidently 
concluded, than that, while the first, or legal covenantj 
includes no penalty of endless punishment, the second 
or gospel covenant has no such penalty, of course. 
The legal covenant was designed in a particular 
manner to influence human conduct by the considera- 
tion of rewards and punishments. The gospel cove- 
nant, though it does not abrogate the doctrine of 
rewards and punishments, does specially, in as far as 
it difiers from the former, provide other and higher 
influences. He, therefore, who will undertake, by the 
criticism of a woi^d^ to palm upon the covenant of 
grace the penalty of endless, revengeful torments for 
earthly sins, attempts a work v/hich he has but illy 
considered. He must show, from the radical meaning 
and Scriptural use of the disputed word, and from the 
occasion of its occurrence in a given case, that it so 
necessarily bears his assumed sense, as to demand our 
sanction of it, even to the nullification of the uniform 
gospel description of the better covenant. 

But so far as the word hell is concerned in the case, 
it has been shown that it can answer no such ruinous 
purpose. In the book of the law it has no such mean- 
ing; nor in the prophets, for they do but teach and 
warn upon the principles of the law. And surely the 
same word which, when rarely it is made descriptive 
of a state of punishment in the law and the prophets, 
refers only to temporal punishment, cannot, with the 
requisite demonstration, denote the infliction of infinite 
sufferings under the dispensation of grace. 

So obvious is this fact, that the learned and orthodox 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 



79 



Dr. Campbell, whose religious prepossessions would 
naturally urge him to press into the support of endless 
punishment all the Scripture words and phrases he 
honestly could, was constrained by the unclouded 
light of this subject to put forth the following decisive 
language :~ 

^'As to the word hades^ which occurs in eleven 
places in the New Testament, and is rendered hell in 
all, except one, where it is translated grave^ it is quite 
common in classical authors, and frequently used by 
the Seventy in the translation of the Old Testament. 
In my judgment it ought never in Scripture to be ren- 
dered hell^ at least in the sense wherein that word is 
now universally understood by Christians. ^ It 

was written anciently, as we learn from the poets, (for 
what is called the poetic is nothing but the ancient dia- 
lect,) aides^ and signifies obscure, hidden, miserable. 
To this the word hell,^ in its primitive signification, 
perfectly corresponded. For, at first, it denoted only 
what was secret or concealed. This word is found 
with little variation of form, and precisely in the same 
meaning, in all the Teutonic dialects.'*' 

After extending his classical illustrations of the 
meaning of the word, the doctor repeats, — But it is 
very plain that neither in the Septuagint version of 
the Old Testament, nor in the New, does the Avord 
hades convey the meaning which the present English 
word, hell, in the Christian usage, always conveys to 
our minds." And speaking for biblical critics of his 
acquaintance generally, he adds, — ^^It were endless to 
illustrate this remark, by an enumeration and exam- 
ination of all the passages in both Testaments wherein 
the word is found. The attempt would be unneces- 

e Sixth Pre. Dissertation, p. 131. 



80 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



sary-j as it is hardly now pretended by any critic, that 
this is the acceptation of the term in the Old Testa- , 
ment." ,^ 

I do not quote Dr. Campbell as authority in matters ; 
of religious faith ;— but the fact that learned critics like [ 
him, whose prepossessions look for the doctrine of 
endless punishment in the Bible, are forced, against 
their wishes, by their criticisms on the literal meaning 
of the word hades^ and its Scriptural usage, to relin- ■ 
quish all claim of support to such doctrine from that ,] 
term, is a circumstance weighing something in con- 
firmation of the view to which we are brought by a < 
de novo examination of the subject. 

II. But the word hell is sometimes rendered from an- , 
other original term in the Scriptures, viz., gehenna. \ 
Let it be distinctly observed, however, that it does not , 
stand as the representative of that word in the books , 
of the law, nor in the Old Testament. And as there 
is no such penalty revealed in the law as endless pun- 
ishment, but on the contrary the law expressly sums 
up all its penalties in temporal sufferings, we should 
not, by a priori reasoning, expect to find Gehenna 
introduced into other parts of the Bible as descriptive ' 
of any other than temporal punishments. Neverthe- 
less I will not avail myself, with the reader, of this I 
reasonable assumption, without submitting the subject 
of it to a philological and Scriptural scrutiny. What, 
then, is the radical meaning, and what the scriptural 
use, of the word Gehenna ? 

Gehenna is compounded of two Hebrew words, gee^ 
land, or valley, and Hinnom^ the name of the person 
who was the owner of the particular valley unto which 
this compound word was applied. This valley of Hin- \ 
nom lay near Jerusalem, on the western border of the 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



81 



lot of the tribe of Jiidah. It became at length noted as 
a place of resort for the idolatrous Jews, where they 
burned their children alive in the fire, a sacrifice to 
Moloch. But King Josiah in his reign prevented re- 
sort to this place for a while, by rendering it insup- 
portably odious with garbage and filth from the city: 
as in 2 Kings xxiii. 10: '* And he defiled Tophet, which 
is in the valley of the children of Hinnom. that no 
man might make his son or his daughter to pass 
tlnmigh the fire to Moloch." Tophet was the place of 
the fire-stove in this valley. 

From this time it seems that gee HinnGin, the val- 
ley of Hinnom. continued for a long period to be a com- 
mon receptacle of garbage and filth from Jerusalem. 
A fire was kept continually burning to consume the 
garbage brought out there, and the worms were con- 
stantly preying on that part of the filth, Avhich. in its 
abundance, lay about unconsumed. In this fire, also, 
some writers tell us, criminals, condemned to the most 
shameful and distressing punishment, were put to 
death. Such is the literal history of Gehenna, the 
valley of Hinnom. 

But the prophets, who sought for the most striking 
figures by wiiich to impress on the minds of the peo- 
ple the important subjects of their prophecies, used this 
valley as an emblem or comparison, by wdiich to rep- 
resent the wretched condition in which a continuance 
in vice would involve the Jewish nation. The}" not 
only forewarned the people that they should bury in 
Tophet until there should be no place, and their bodies 
should lie unburied, food for the beasts of the field 
and the fov/ls of the air, but also that their great 
city should be like unto Tophet ; as in Jer. xix. 12 ; 
^•Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and 



82 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as 
Tophet." 

Thus far all are agreed. All agree that Gehenna is 
literally the name of the valley which has just been 
described; and that in the Old Testament this valley 
is never employed as an emblem of any other punish- 
ment than that temporal destruction which should 
come on the Jewish nation. How, then, shall it be 
made to appear that this word signifies a state of 
future misery, when it is used in the New Testa- 
ment? It is used by our Lord as a word which the 
people understood, or had the means of understand- 
ing; for he used it ineverj?' case without explanation. 
And how could they know its meaning? They, in 
address to whom the Saviour used this word, could 
understand his meaning, because they were acquainted 
with the valley of which this word was the proper 
name, and with its use in the writings of their pro- 
phets, as an emblem of temporal calamity, and prob- 
ably with its use as a place for the execution of capi- 
tal punishments. But how could they understand 
him as meaning by it a place of punishment in the 
future world? As he did not inform them that he 
employed the word in any new sense, they must have 
understood it, when employed by him, according to 
its former usage. 

But here some tell us that the Jews in their inter- 
course with the heathen, between the last of the pro- 
phets and the coming of Christ, had adopted into their 
religious creed the heathen fables of a Tartarus, or 
prison of fire below the earth, and that to this Tar- 
tarus they had applied Gehenna^ the name of their 
odious valley. And they conclude hence that when 
Jesus used this word, he used it m its new sense, 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 83 

meaning by it that world of torment which was orig- 
inated in the said fables of the heatheiij then lately 
borrowed by the Jews. 

But we have not so learned Christ. When a speaker 
uses a word without explanation, he is to be under- 
stood as using it in the sense of such other authors as 
he is kno\\7ii to recognize as authority. Now unto 
what did Jesus refer the people as authority? What 
was he engaged in expounding, and enforcing on the 
people? The corrupt fables of the heathen, borrowed 
by the apostatized Jews ? No ; the Scriptures of the 
Old Testament. The law and the prophets were 
the authority recognized by Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
when he used Scripture words, without explaining 
them, he must have been understood by his disciples 
as using them in the Scripture sense ^ however such 
words may have been applied, by apostates, to other 
things. 

But the last named assumption, concerning the 
Jewish usage of Gehenna in our Saviour's time, is 
imfounded. It does not appear that the Jews, as 
early as our Saviour's time, had ever used the word 
Gehenna in application to a place or state of future 
punishment. Some learned commentators have as- 
serted that Gehenna was used for future punishment 
in the original of the Apocrypha ; but Mr. Balfour has 
detected their error, having ascertained that the word 
Gehenna does not once occur in the original Avritings 
of the Apocrypha. And though his book, announcing 
this fact, has been before the public more than twenty 
years, and some of his most learned opposers have un- 
dertaken to controvert some parts of it, no one has 
contradicted his statement of the absence of the word 
Gehenna from the Apocrypha. There can be no dis- 



84 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



pute about it, foi the original of those books speaks for 
itself; and they who have asserted that Gehenna is 
there used for future punishment, must have got their 
minds wrought into the idea without a personal exam- 
ination. And their assertion was then the more safe, 
there being but one party on the question. If there 
had been any controversialist to call on them for the 
authority upon which they made their statement, they 
would have gone to those writings and examined for 
themselves, in order to refer their opponent to book, 
chapter and verse, and w^ould hereby have discovered 
their error. 

And now with regard to other Jewish writings, to 
which reference may be made for the settlement of the 
question concerning the Jewish usage of Gehenna in 
our Saviours time, — Rev. H. Ballon, 2d, D. D., w^ho is 
extensively read in ancient Ecclesiastical History, has, 
with much and critical labor, examined all the author- 
ities which can probably ever be brought to bear on 
this question, and has ascertained the fact that all 
other Jewish writings now extant, are as free from the 
use of Gehenna, in reference to future punishment, as 
are the books of the Apocrypha, until more than two 
hundred years after Christ. No Jewish writing ex- 
tant, of a later date than the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures, uses this word, until the Targum of Jonathan 
Ben Uzziel ; and this, the best of critics agree, could 
not have been written earlier than the end of the 2d 
century ; some say the 4th, and some refer the work 
to as late a period as the 7th or 8th century.^ 

It seems nov/ to be a settled point, that the last position 
from which disputants have argued for the application 
of Gehenna in the New Testament to future punish- 

f See Universalist Expositor for May, 1832. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



85 



merit, is without evidence to support it. There is no 
evidence on which rehance can be placed, that even 
the apostatized Jews, in our Saviour's time, had ever 
apphed the word Gehenna to future punishment. We 
are therefore left to make up our judgment on the 
meaning of the Avord. in the New Testament, alto- 
gether from the Old Testament use of the phrase Gee 
Hinjiom^ and from the connexions in the several 
cases in which the New Testament employs it. 

The literal sense and Old Testament usage have 
been considered and determined ; and thus far all are 
agreed. Since, then, it is incontrovertibly settled, that 
Gee Hinnom in the Old Testament is only used as the 
proper name of the odious valley, and as an emblem 
of the then future corruptness and desolation of the 
Jewish city and nation: and since, furthermore, no 
Jewish writer had used the compound word, Gehenyia^ 
in any other sense, — by what authority can it be 
asserted, that this word, in the New Testament, is 
used for a place or state of endless punishment ? The 
reader will perceive that, if there is any authority for 
such an assumption, it must be found in some very 
obvious assignment to it of the new and unheard of 
sense, by the great Teacher, in connection with his 
use of it. Does he assign to it an}'" such new signifi- 
cation, either directly, or by implication ? To answer 
this inquiry, we will briefly examine its New Testa- 
ment usage. 

Its first occurrence in this portion of the inspired 
Book, is in Matt. v. 21, 22: '-Ye have heard that it 
was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill : and 
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judg- 
ment. BLit I say unto you, that whosoever is angry 
with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger 
8 



86 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



of the judgment : and whosoever shall say to his bro- 
ther, Raca, (shallow brains,) shall be in danger of the ; 
council ; but whosoever shall say, thou fool, {Moi^eh^ 
a'postate^ shall be in danger olhell fire^''^ {Gehenna fire.^ 
Let it be borne in mind that this is the first instance j 
of the use of the word Gehenna in the New Testa- \ 
ment ; and where is the evidence that it is here used ■ 
in our opposers' new sense? No such evidence ap- 
pears. We find nothing introduced here but the same | 
Gehenna fire of which we read in the Old Testament, | 
and which appears to have been used for the infliction ' 
of the highest punishments. Jesus here speaks in ref- 
erence to three grades of punishment ; strangling^ by ? 
the judgment of twenty-three members; stoning^ by } 
the council of seventy-two; and being burnt in the . 
valley of Hinnom. • He used language which was so ! 
familiar to the people he addressed, that it would have ] 
been puerile for him to explain it. It seems to have 
been his design to guard his disciples against any dan- f 
gerous mistake, with regard to the means by which ' 
they might expose themselves to the judgment of the 
civil tribunals of the country, to be cut off from their || 
good work in form of law, and not as persecution for ' 
opinion's sake. They were of like passion with other 
men; they were punishable for injurious words as 
well as for injurious actions; and their enemies were | 
watching them for evil. Being of a class of commu- ' 
nity not probably practised in judicial tactics, if they \ 
were not cautioned and guarded in relation to these I 
things, they might unawares give occasion to their arch 
and ever watchful enemies, to procure their death by 
legal process. They might, in a momentary burst of 
passion, excited by abusive opposition, cast at their j 
opposers some opprobrious epithet, for which they 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 87 

would be subject to arraignment, and death by stran- 
gling, or stoning, or burning in the fire of Gehenna, 
according to the nature of the epithet. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on this pas- 
sage, says, ^'It is very probable that our Lord means 
no more here than this ; if a man charge another with 
apostasy from the Jewish religion, or rebellion against 
God, and cannot prove his charge, then he is exposed to 
that punishment {burning alive) which the other must 
have sufi'ered if the charge had been substantiated. 
There are three kinds of offences here, v/hich exceed 
each other in their degrees of guilt. 1. Anger against 
a man, accompanied with some injurious act. 2. Con- 
tempt, expressed by the opprobrious epithet, Raca. or 
shallow brains. 3. Hatred and mortal enmity^ ex- 
pressed by the term Moreh^ or apostate^ where such 
apostasy could not be proved. Now, proportioned to 
these three offences, were three different degrees of 
punishment, each exceeding the other in severity, 
as the offences exceeded each other in their different 
degrees of guilt. 1. The judgment^ the council of 
twenty-three^ which could inflict the punishment of 
strangling, 2. The Sanhedrin^ or great council, 
which could i'nflict the punishment of stoning. 3. The 
being burnt alive in the valley of the son of Hinnom. 
This appears to be the meaning of our Lord."^ 

Professor Stuart, after showing the literal meaning of this word to he 
what we have stated, argues, what none will dispute, the frequent Scripture use 
of words in a secondary or figurative sense. He then refers to this first use 
of Gehenna in the New Testament, and says that it is "the only passage 
which seems to be even capable of the literal sense." But upon quoting the 
passage, he puts the inquiry, " Is all this literal, or spiritual ?" And finally 
he comes to his conclusion in these words : " The Saviour could not here mean 
to say that the Jews would literally punish the various gradations of crime 
which he marks. We must suppose, then, that he means to designate the 
punishment which God, who could judge the heart, would inflict, and which 
must be spiritual.^' 



88 



COMPfiND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Gehenna occurs twice again in the same chapter,* 
(verses 29, 30:) ''And if thy right eye offend thee, 

Well, suppose it were so ; — suppose the design of Jesus was to teach that 
the Lord, " who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, even to give unto 
every man according to his ways," will administer different degrees of spir- 
itual sulTerings, according to the different degrees of sinfulness in man. 
What then? Does it follow that reference was made to punishment in an- 
other world? No such punishment is written in the hook of the law, — nor in 
the prophets, of course, who founded their threatenings upon legal principles. 
And now, is the mere fact tliat Jesus Christ speaks of a punishment which 
God will inflict, a proof that he means the infliction of "immortal pains? " 
When David saysj " Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou ren- 
derest unto every man according to his work," he speaks of retributions ad- 
ministered, not by Jewish rulers, but by the government of God. Does it 
follow hence, that the Psalmist meant, that God will in mercy raise up his 
ofiending children from the deep sleep of death, to inflict upon them unend- 
ing torments ? Who would have supposed that the circumstance of a pun- 
ishment being administered by Him who "judgeth in the earth," (Ps. 
Ixii. 12,) is proof that it must be administered in a future world? Yet this 
is precisely the argument of the learned Professor. After remarking that 
Jesus " could not mean to say that the Jews would literally punish the vari- 
ous gradations of crimes which he marks," and that "we must suppose, 
then, that he means to designate the punishment which God, who can judge 
the heart, would inflict, and which must be spiritual,^' he concludes, — " What 
is meant must then be, that God would punish, in a future world, with dif- 
ferent degrees of severity, which were signified or symbolized by the Sep- 
temviri, by the Sanhedrim, and by being burned in the valley of Hinnom." — 
(Exegetical Essays on Gehenna.) 

To Professor Stuart belongs the credit of such an argument. But it will ' 
be seen that his argument just as much makes the words which stand for 
Septemviri, and Sanhedrim, mean a place of endless punishment " in a future 
world," as Gehenna, And this, then, is the first revelation, the original burst- 
ing forth, of the astounding dogma, that God will raise up millions of his chil- 
dren, and hold them up in unending being, that he may wreak upon them 
unending vengeance ! It is not in the Law, — it is not in the Prophets, — it is 
not in the literal meaning of the terms Septemviri, Sanhedrim, and Gehenna, 
— nor is it in any explanation which the Saviour has given of these words, — 
but it is in these six v/ords of Professor Stuart in relation to a figurative use 
of those terms, viz., " IVhat is meant must then be ! " And this, I apprehend, 
is as good authority as that dogm.a will in any case be found to be entitled to. 

It is granted that the word Gehenna is in some cases used figuratively, 
"signifying or symbolizing" a punishment which GocJ would inflict ; but the 
reader who goes with me in the examination of its New Testament usage, 
will see that the assumption that the punishment it symbolizes, is " in a 
future world," is not only unauthorized by the testimony, but opposed to it. 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



89 



pluck it out and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable 
for thee that one of thy members should perish, and 
not that thy whole body should be cast into Gehen- 
na.^'' The other verse is the same, except substituting 
the hand for the eye. The same is recorded by the 
Evangelist Mark, thus: (Mark ix. 43:) '-And if thy 
hand offend thee, cut it off ; it is better for thee to enter 
into life maimed, than having two hands to go into 
hell, (^Geheiina^^ into the fire that never shall be 
quenched:" or, as the most literal translation is, into 
the miquenchable fire; where their worm dieth not, 
and the fire is not quenched." This word Gehenna is 
twice repeated in the same sense in the verses which 
follow. 

Now it is evident that in this case the word Ge- 
henna has no reference to a place of future torment, 
because Jesus was not discoursing on the subject of a 
future state. Such a thing is supposed as an entrance 
into the life here spoken of, maimed ; and that on 
account of denying ourselves of what would cause 
off'ence against the gospel. Can this apply to the 
future state '? Can you conceive of such a thing as a 
person's entering into life, in the resurrection immor- 
tal state, — entering into the blissful paradise of God, 
feeling there maimed; and that too, in consequence 
of having done so loell in this world, as to cut ofi' 
what would have caused offence ? Such a thing is 
not supposable. But in this world, persons may, by 
faith and obedience, enter into the life of the gospel, 
and yet feel maimed on account of some sacrifices 
made. Here then is the entering into life maimed. 
It can only be in this world. And as the casting into 
Gehenna is set against the entering into life maimed, 
this too must be expressive of some calamity on earth. 



90 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



The plain sense of this passage is, that it was better 
for the disciples to sutfer what privations an adherence 
to the gospel in that age requiredj and enjoy the gos- 
pel life, and the divine protection which was promised \ 
the true disciples, than to abandon Christ's cause, and 
be cast into Geheniia^ or suffer in those dire calami- 
ties of the unbelieving Jewish nation, which should 
make their city like Tophet in Gehenna^ and hterally 
fill up that valley with the unburied carcasses of that 
people. The phrase, ^'unquenchable fire," and the 
saying, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is i 
not quenched," are allusions to the well known worm 
and fire of the valley of Hinnom, before spoken of.^ 
But figuratively used, as they seem to be here, they 
denote the continuance and effectiveness of those evils, I 
which should, like the worm and fire of Gehenna^ \ 
prey upon and consume that people. These calami- 
ties were, by the prophets, even when the valley of 
Hinnom was not referred to, called a fire that should 
not be quenched ; as in Jer. vii. 20 : — Therefore thus 
saith the Lord God, Behold, mine anger and my fary 
shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and 
upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and 
upon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burn, 
and shall not be quenched." And Jer. xvii. 27 : 
Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it 
shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall 
not be quenched." Hence we perceive that this un- 
quenchable fire was in the earth ; we read nothing of 

^ On this phraseology Professor Stuart justly remarks, " It would seem 
that the custom of desecrating this place, {Gehenna,) thus happily begun, 
was continued in after ages down to the period when our Saviour was on 
earth. Perpetual fires were kept up, in order to consume the ofFal which 
was deposited there. And as the ofFai would breed worms, (for so all putre- 
fying meat of course does,) hence came the expression, ' Where the worm 
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.' " 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 



91 



it in the Scriptures when speaking of the resurrection 
world. It being called ttnqiiejichable fire^ denotes that 
the judgment signified by it should not be checkedj or 
prevented from accomplishing its full destined work. 

The word Gehenna occurs again in Matt, xxiii. 33 : 
^^Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye 
escape the damnation of hell ]'' (the punishment of 
Gehenna?) The meaning here is obvious, Jesus was 
addressing those people whom the prophets had fore- 
warned that they should be food for the beasts and 
fowls in the valley of Hinnom. and that their city 
should be as Tophet. He saw them in the practice 
of the very iniquities on which v^ere predicated these 
threatenings of punishment, and yet they were plac- 
ing reliance on their outside piety, as if that Vv^ould 
shield them. The whole of the preceding part of this 
chapter he had devoted to an exposure and reprehen- 
sion of their hypocrisy ; and here he interrogates them 
as if he had said : " Ye brood of vipers^ how can you 
expectj by such hypocris}?-, to escape that punishment 
which your prophets have forev/arned you shall crowd 
Gehenna with the unburied carcasses of this people, 
and even make your city as Tophet?" By the imn- 
ishment of Gehenna we do not understand Jesus to 
mean merely what should be su.ffered in that particu- 
lar valley, but that judgment, that great calamity, 
which should come on that whole people, and the 
effects of which on that nation the prophets represented 
by reference to the valley of Hinnom. That this is 
what Jesus here meant by the punishment of Gehenna^ 
is furthermore certain from his own succeeding expla- 
nation of it. '"Wherefore, behold, I send unto you 
prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of 
them ye shall kill and crucifyj and some of them ye 



92 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them 
from city to city : that upon you may come all the 
righteous blood shed upon the earth. Yerily I say 
unto you, all these things shall come upon this genera- 
tion. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! Your house is left 
unto you desolate," &c. Now what respect can we 
have for all the assertions of men which are against 
the words of Jesus ] For he, directly proceeding to 
describe the punishinent of Gehenna^ shows that he 
meant by it that calamity which should come on that 
generation of the Jews, and desolate their country and 
city. 

Another instance of the use of the word under con- 
sideration, is in Matt. x. 28 : '-And fear not them which 
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : but 
rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and 
body in hell." (^Geheiiiia.^ The same is thus recorded 
in Luke xii. 4, 5. '-And I say unto you, my friends, 
Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after 
that have no more that they can do. But I will fore- 
warn you whom ye shall fear; fear him, which, after 
he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell : yea, I 
say unto you, fear him." 

This is the only case in which there seems to be the 
least plausible ground for an application of Gehenna 
to punishment in the future world. It speaks of the 
power of God to cast into Gehenna after he hath 
killed. But a just consideration of the case will, it is 
presumed, satisfy the reader, that the word is not here 
used as a revelation of any such new description of 
punishment. This passage was addressed by our 
Lord to his ministering disciples, as he was sending 
them out into the world to propagate his di^ctrines. It 
is not to be supposed that he meant to threaten them 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



93 



with a future Gehenna of endless torments, when he 
had never warned the enemies of his cause with any 
other than a Gehenna of temporal calamities. His 
design was to guard them against being influenced 
by the fear of man to abandon his cause. Men could 
kill the body, but not the (jjsiike) soul. The word 
here rendered sold is most commonly used for life. 
And the circumstance that a distinction is here made, 
which is not made elsewhere, between killing the 
{soma) body and the {pstike) life, leads us to the con- 
clusion that in this case something is meant by killing 
the body short of taking the life. 

The word apokteino^ here rendered MIL signifies, ac- 
cording to the lexicons, to kill^ to slay^ to take a.waij^ 
to remove^ to heat almost to death, to tease or plague^ 
&c. And as killing the body is here spoken of in dis- 
tinction from killing the hfe, it appears to me evident 
that it denotes the taking away of the comforts and 
privileges of the body, the teasing or plaguing of the 
body, (a sense which the word rendered kill may ex- 
press,) without taking the life. And of this scourging 
of the body, as Matthew shows us in his record of the 
same conversation, Jesus had just been informing his 
disciples that they should suffer. Beware of men,'' 
said he, '4br they will deliver you up to the councils, 
and they will scourge you in their synagogues ; ^ ^ ^ ^ 
and ye shall be hated of a.11 nations for my name's 
sake ; but he that endure th to the end shall be saved." 
That is, he who continued faithful should have his 
life preserved, though men might thus kill, that is, 
scourge and plague the body. — '-^ Fear them not, there- 
fore,'' continued Jesus, ''for there is nothing covered 
that shall not be revealed ; and hid which shall not be 
known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye 



94 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



in light ; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye 
on the house-tops. And fear not them which kill the 
body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear 
him w^hich is able to destroy both soul [life] and body 
in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a far- 
thing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground 
without your Father. But the very hairs of your 
head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, for ye 
are of more value than many sparrows.'' That is, 
fear riot men ; for this is a repetition of what was said 
in the 26th verse. Fear them not, therefore." Jesus 
was sending the disciples out to labor in the gospel 
ministry, and aimed to inspire them with a confidence 
in the Divine protection in the path of duty,- — but 
with a fear to forsake duty for human protection. 
They might fear nothing in the path of duty; fear 
nothing but to offend the laws of God. It would be 
by such offence that they would subject themselves to 
the greatest evil. Though it would not consist with 
the Divine economy to work that constant miraclCj 
which would prevent men's sometimes killing, or 
scourging their bodies^ — if they were faithful, God 
would preserve their lives. But if they should aban- 
don duty to procure the protection of men, the power 
of God, after it had afflicted their bodies, would cast 
them into Gehenna^ or destroy both their lives and 
bodies by that judgment, which was called the punish- 
ment of Gehenna. 

True, some of the disciples were to lose their lives 
for Christ's sake. But this should only be when they 
should see their work to be done, as did Paul when he 
said, ''I am now ready to be offered," — so that they 
should offer themselves a willing sacrifice to the cause 
of truth. Then it might be said in truth of them, as 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 



95 



Jesus said of himself, '-No man taketh it (my life) 
from me, but I lay it down of myself." ' The disciples 
were immortal, to the accomplishment of their mission, 
if they were faithful to duty. 

Such, then, seems to be the sentiment of this portion 
of Scripture. Jesus designed to encourage his disci- 
ples to a fearless march in the way of duty, by the as- 
surance that in that way God would preserve their 
lives, until he should make them to see, and cheerfully 
consent, that it was the best time for them to die;— 
and until that time, though men might kill or scourge 
their bodies^ they could not take their lives. And if 
one is assured that, in faithfulness to duty, men can- 
not destroy his life until he is prepared in his mind to 
give himself a willing sacrifice for the cause he loves, 
then in the path of duty he has nothing to fear from 
men. But if, for fear of men, the disciples should 
apostatize from the Christian cause, they would fall 
under that judgment of God, vv^hich, after killing or 
torturing the body, Y^^ould cast into Gehenna^ — 
would destroy both life and body in that calamity 
which was called the punishment of Gehenna. I say 
they would fall under that judgment of God which 
luoiild do this; for though the text only says that he 
hath jjoicer to do it, the testimony of the Scriptures in 
general on the same subject, as we have seen, shows 
that the judgment here referred to would be executed 
on the unbelieving Jews, and on the apostates from the 
Christian religion. 

Our Saviour employs this word, (Matt, xxiii. 15,) as 
it might appropriately be employed, as an emblem of 
odiousness : ^'Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one 

» John X. 18, 



96 



COMPEND OF CHEISTIAN DIVINITY. 



proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold 
more the child of Gehenna than yourselves!" The 
proselytes were two-fold worse, or more odious, than 
those who made them. And there is a passage in 
James, where the destructive effect of the bad use of 
the tongue is represented by the Jire of Gehenna, 
(See James in. 6.) ^' And the tongue is a fire, a world 
of iniquity; and is set on fire of hell," (^Gehenna.) 

Thus endeth the catalogue of cases in which Ge- 
henna occurs in the New Testament. And the candid 
reader will participate with me in the high satisfaction 
derived from the admirable harmony of the Scripture 
doctrines. So far as we have made progress in our 
investigations, we find no verbal description of pun- 
ishment which contradicts the merciful design of 
the law, and the adaptedness of its penalties to promote 
its benevolent ends. 

III. But there is one other word in the original of 
the New Testam.ent, which is rendered hell in the 
common version, and which has been thought to mean 
a place of endless punishment. It is Tartarus. It 
occurs but once in the Bible, and that is in 2 Peter ii. 
4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but 
cast them down to hell, (^Tartarosas,^ and delivered 
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto 
judgment." 

As Tartarus is not found elsewhere in the New 
Testament, and it does not occur in the Septuagint, 
we must have recourse to the Greek classics for its 
meaning. From this source we learn that Tartarus 
was the heathen name of their fabulous prison in the 
bowels of the earth. Dr. Clarke quotes Hesiod as say- 
ing, ''Here, (in Tartarus,) the rebellious Titans were 
bound in penal chains." And again, 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



97 



"Black Tartarus, Trithin earth's spacious Tromb.^' 

The question now to be considered is, for what 
purpose did Peter introduce this word in tire case be- 
fore us? Did he mean to use it hterally, for the hea- 
then fabulous prison of fire in the bowels of the earth. 
Avith the design to give his sanction to those fables ? 
No Christian will contend for this. It will be of no 
avail, then, to assume that he used it to '-symbolize"' 
the future hell of a portion of the modern Christian 
church ; for no such *• place of torment*' is revealed or 
taught in the Scriptures, to he symbolized. The au- 
thors of the London Improved Yersion of the 2New 
Testament, suppose that he meant to symbolize the 
state of "judicial blindness," unto wdiich God con- 
signed the fallen or treacherous messengers,^ --who 
were sent to spy out the land of Canaan, unto the 
judgment of a great day, i. e, when they were de- 
stroyed by a plague.*' For this view of the subject 
they refer to Simpson's Essays," a work to wdiich I 
have not had access. But these translators add, '* Per- 
haps, however, the writer may refer to some fanciful 
account of the fall of angels contained in the apocry- 
phal book which lay before him, without intending to 
vouch for that fact. He might introduce it merely to 
illustrate his argument." 

That Peter here quoted from an apocryphal book, 
seems to have been the opinion of many critical com- 
mentators ; and Jude is supposed to have quoted from 
the same author. This opinion commends itself to my 
mind as the most probable. The passage bears a 
strong resemblance to many passages m Greek fabu- 

j " Angelos,^^ says Parkhurst, quoting Austin, ^'is a name not of nature, 
but of office." The office of messenger, which the -word ajigel means, is 
appHed to either spiritual or physical agents, as the case may be. 

9 



98 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

Ions descriptions of incidents in relation to Tartarus. 
Some fabulous work, not Greek, but Jewish, is evi- 
dently quoted by Jude, verse 9th. ^' Yet Michael, the 
archangel, when, contending with the devil, he dis- 
puted about the body of Moses, durst not bring against 
him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke 
thee.'' Such quotations from fabulous and apocryphal 
workSj and references to popular opinion, which are 
used for comparison and illustration, never involve the 
idea of a sanction of the stories or opinions referred 
to. This reference to the story of a dispute between 
Michael and the devil, Avhere the writer's sense of pro- 
priety made the former guard against raillery, even 
toward the evil angel, was designed to set off the dis- 
gusting arrogance of those disorganizers he was re- 
proving, who ^'despised dominion, and spake evil of 
dignities." Our Lord said to the Pharisees, '^If I by 
Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children 
cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges."'' 
He did not mean to admit that the children of the 
Pharisees had the power to do those works which 
they pretended ; but he argued with them upon their 
own assumed principles, to convict them of injustice 
towards him. He quoted also some fabulous story of 
the Jews, when, in the latter part of the same chapter, 
he introduced the case of the unclean spirit going out 
of a man, and returning with seven other spirits more 
Avicked than himself, making the last state of that 
man worse than the first. The moral of the story, as 
applied to the Jcavs of that age, is all he aimed to in- 
culcate, — viz., ''So shall it be with this generation." 
It is as if he had said, ''The state of this generation 
subsequent to the coming of their expected Messiah, 

^ Matt. xii. 27. 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 



99 



shall compare with that preceding, as the last state of 
the demoniac in your fable compares with the first." 
And with regard to the design of Peter in quoting from 
the fabulous work in relation to the durance of certain 
angels in Tartarus for judgment, the application he 
mavkes of it is, that '-the Lord knoweth how to reserve 
the unjust unto a day of judgment to be punished.'' 
And as the day of judgment with those apostates of 
whom he was complaining, St. Peter says, Whose 
judgment noio of a long time lingereth not^ and their 
damnation slumber eth notP He was not treating on a 
judgment to be postponed for ages. 

It is now seen that the word Tartarus, as used in 
this single case in the Scriptures, proves nothing con- 
trary to the general tenor of the inspired teachings on 
the legal penalties. But, in concluding my remarks 
on the subject before us, I will show that the popular 
use of this passage is utterly exploded by other parts 
of the same creed which adopts it. It is supposed that 
the Miltonian doctrine of the conversion of holy angels 
to devils, is taught in this place. Dr. "W atts versifies 
the sentiment which the dominant sects hold of this 
delivering of the angels into chains of darkness, in the 
following stanza: — 

There Satan, the first sinner, lies, 

And roars and bites his iron bands ; 

In vain the rebel strives to rise. 

Crushed with the weight of both thy hands." i 

They at the same time maintain that these fallen angels, 
or devils, are freely and actively ranging over the face 
of this our world, scheming and working m.ightily and 
successfully against the designs and operations of God 
and his Christ, achieving and maintaining almost uni- 

1 Watts, H. 44, B. 2. 



100 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



versal empire in the great family of God's children. 
Such brilliant achievements against the government 
of the Eternal, acquhed and maintained in the world 
above ground^ by the imprisoned angels chained dovv^i 
in Tartarus^ are incredible. The idea refutes itself 
And we turn from these fables to the beautiful and 
harmonious teachings of the Divine Spirit. 

As we have had our attention called to the heathen 
Tartarus^ and to the occasional employment by the 
sacred writers of popular opinions, to enforce truth 
and duty, I deem this the proper place for the intro- 
duction of the parable of Dives and Lazarus, (Luke 
xvi. 19 — 31.) It may be urged by some that this par- 
able presents an objection to the view taken, in the 
beginning of this section, on the word hades^ for hexe 
it is represented as a place of torment after death. 
The rich man is represented as being dead and buried, 
and yet lifting up his eyes in hades^ being in torment. 

The objection here presented being at first view 
plausible, notwithstanding we have shown by the 
literal meaning of the word, and its use in the law, 
and by the testimony of Dr. Campbell, w^ho has the 
general concurrence of learned critics, that the use of 
this word cannot be relied upon as proof of punish- 
ments contrary/ to the words of the law, yet I will give 
place to a brief consideration of this parable. 

With regard to the imrabolic character of this pas- 
sage, though occasionally a person of more party zeal 
than knowledge insists on taking it as a literal nar- 
rative, there is rarely an intelligent commentator 
who will adopt a position so untenable. Lightfoot^ 
after ridiculing the idea that ^'this is not a parable, 
but a true story,'' proceeds to say: And that it was 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



101 



a parable, not only the consent of all expositors may 
assure us, but the thing itself speaks it.""" 

As it respects the elements of a parable, it may be 
composed of natural incidents, literal facts, or fictitious 
narratives, as may best suit the design. On this point 
Dr. Barnes, an able Presbyterian commentator, speaks 
with great clearness and truth, as follows : A parable 
is a narrative of some fictitious or real event, in order 
to illustrate more clearly some truth that the speaker 
wishes to communicate. It is not necessary to sup- 
pose that the narratives were strictly true. The main 
thing, — the inculcation of spiritual truth, — was gained 
equally, Avhether it was true, or was only a supposed 
case. Nor was there any dishonesty in this. It was 
well understood. No person was deceived. The 
speaker was not understood to affirm the thing lit- 
erally narrated, but only to fix the attention more 
firmly on the moral truth that he presented.'"'" 

The remark of some, that the story of the Rich JMan 
and LazarLis is not a parable, because the Saviour 
says, There ivas a certain rich man^'^ is too puerile 
to be entitled to a labored notice. So parables are 
usually introduced, not by a supposition, but in plam 
narrative form. So the other parable in the same 
chapter begins. — '-There was a certain rich man 
which had a stewarfl." And even the parable of 
Jotham is introduced Vvath the saying, The trees 
went forth on a time to anoint a king over them.''° 
But enough of this. 

And Avhat are the elements of the story which Jesus 
em.ployed in this parable ? They are the heathen fabu- 
lous descriptions of the under world, which had been 

m See Paige's Selections, Sec. xlix. » Barnes' NoteSj on Matt. xii. 3—9. 
t> Judges ix. 8. 

9^ 



102 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



partially adopted by the Jews. To the entire subter- 
ranean world they gave the- name hades. This they 
divided into two departments, Elysium, the blest 
abode, and Tartarus, the prison of fire, — between 
which there was a deep gulf or chasm. It is, indeed, 
generally conceded, that the story employed in this 
parable is founded on Judaized heathen views of hades. 
Then let the sectarian make the most of it possible, 
even taking it as a literal narrative, and he cannot 
make it favor the doctrine of misery in the final im- 
mortal state, beyond the resurrection. For admitting 
the hades of the New Testament, unlike that of the 
Old, to be as the poetic fables, and this story too, if 
taken for literal truth, would represent the state of the 
deceased, to be full of active life, and of enjoyment in 
one department, and of suffering in the other, yet the 
New Testament restricts us in its application to the 
intermediate state. In the event -of the resurrection 
hades shall be destroyed, and the triumphant exclama- 
tion shall be raised in a shout of ecstasy, O hades ! 
cohere is thy victory 7 " This is an interrogatory asser- 
tion, that in the consummation promised, not a single 
victim shall hades boast. 

Our opposers have sometimes tauntingly said to us, 
There is an account of a rich man in hell ; how will 
you get him out?" To which I would answer; 
There is an account that this same hell, or hades^ shall 
be destroyed, so that no victim shall be held in it. 
And when all men are raised up from it. and hades 
itself is destroyed, how will you get men back into 
hades again ? 

But I do not admit that this parable was designed 
to teach the doctrine of torment even in the interme- 
diate state. Where did the Jews get their notions 
concerning hades, that it was divided into Elysium 



WORDS DESIGNATING PUNISHMENT. 



103 



and Tartarus, a place of happiness and of misery? 
Not from their Scriptures ; for, as it is conceded by 
our most learned doctrinal opposers, the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures teach no such thing. They took 
this view from the corrupt fables of the heathen, in 
their intercourse with them after the age of the pro- 
phets, and previous to the coming of Christ. And that 
Jesus laid the scene of this story in those heathen 
fables, is evident, in that he makes the parable to rep- 
resent the places of the rich man and Lazarus as being 
on a level, on the opposite sides of a great gulf or 
chasm, precisely like the heathen fabulous under world 
of Elysium and Tartarus. But the occasion on which 
the parable was spoken, shows that Jesus designed to 
represent by it the then approaching change of condi- 
tions with Jews and Gentiles in this world, when the 
former should be cast down and trodden under foot, and 
the latter be exalted. And the sequel shows, that 
though Jesus employed a story, which should call to 
the minds of the Jews those heathen fables which they 
had borrowed, he did it not to give his sanction to 
those fables, but to reprove and shame them for their 
adherence to them. For, in reference to the heathen 
Iiabits of necromancy, or conversation with the dead, the 
parable makes the rich man to request that one should 
be sent from the dead to instruct the Jews, and save 
them from the evil unto which they were hastening. 
But the answer is, They have Moses and the prophets; 
let them hear them." Let them hear Moses and the 
prophets about what? Surely not about torment in 
hades^ for they never said a word about it. Moses 
assured the people, as we have seen, (Deut. xxix.,) 
that all the curses uritten in the hook of the law^ should 
be executed on transgressors, so as to be witnessed in 



104 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



the land of their residence, in which they should prac- 
tise their sinful abominations. Yes, Moses, and the 
'pro'phets too, said much about those temporal calami- 
ties to which that nation would expose themselves by 
sin. And here Jesus makes his parable say of the 
Jews, ''Let them hear Moses and the prophets.'' As 
if he had said; ''Abandon your resort to heathen 
fables, concerning torments in the state of the dead, 
and go back to your own sacred Scriptures, to Moses 
and the prophets, and give heed to their instructions 
and warnings, concerning those real evils to which 
you are exposed, and which are even at your doors." 
An unfortunate parable is this for the doctrine of 
future torments. The story borrows its imagery from 
the fables of the heathen, for the purpose of being 
so applied as to convey to the Jews the more cutting 
reproof for having adopted those corrupt human for- 
geries, and with more striking emphasis to command 
them back to the Scriptures which they had neglected. 

I have now devoted as much attention as my limits 
will admit, to the three terms which have been 
thought to designate a place of punishment in the im- 
mortal world. These terms are Hades^ Gehenna^ and 
Tartarus, Sheol we merge in hades^ which the Sep- 
tuagint employs as a translation of it. Every occur- 
rence of Gehenna and Tartarus has been examined, 
and not the shadow of a doubt rests upon either case, 
as to its application, when applied to punishment, to 
sufferings in the present world. I have not adduced 
all the cases of the use of hades^ because my limits 
would not admit it, and the labor were needless. It is 
not pretended by the learned believers in endless pun- 
ishment, that this word is used in the Scriptures to de- 
scribe it ; and if it were so pretended, we have given so 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW. 



105 



full a definition of its meaning, and have gone so far 
in exposition of its Scripture use, as to evince that an 
attempt to raise the disputed doctrine from it must 
obviously be futile, and to enable the reader to explain 
every other case of its occurrence, by the connexions, 
repectively, in which it may be found. 

IV. We come now to the qualifying terms, some- 
times applied to punishment, expressive of duration. 
These are forever^ everlastings and eternal. In the 
Septuagint, and the Greek of the New Testament, 
they are aion, and its derivative, aionios. 

Upon the meaning of these words, Professor Stuart, 
in his Exegetical Essays, assumes that the 'proper sig- 
nification of axon and aionios^ as used by the Greek 
writers of the Septuagint and New Testament, is 
eternity and eternal, and that when they are used in a 
limited sense, it is a catachrestic, or forced and unnatu- 
ral usage. Yet he has presented no facts to support 
such an assumption. He has given us no authority 
for departing from the following definition of aion^ by 
his learned orthodox brother. Dr. Parkhurst. ^'Aion^ 
from aei^ always, and o?z, being, always being. It 
denotes duration^ or continuance of time^ but with 
great variety.*' This he gives as the proper and i^adi- 
ccd meaning of the word, duration ^ or continuance 
of time;''' and then adds, ''but with great variety." 
He then gives examples of different uses of the word, 
by reference to certain places of Scripture, of which 
places every reader of the Bible is to judge for himself. 

But you will say that if aion is compounded of aei^ 
always, and on^ being, then the radical meaning of the 
word is endless duration, or eternity. Let us look 
then at the signification of the word aei^ which is the 
component part of aion that applies to duration^ and is 



106 



C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIYIXITY. 



rendered always. ^'Aei, from intensive; and eo. to 
be/' 1. Ahcaijs^ ever. KqXs vii. 51.- — '* Ye do always 
resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did. so do ye.*' 
2 Cor. vi. 10. — As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.*' 
These are the only cases which Parkhurst brings to 
support his stroiigest sense of the Greek aei : and in 
these, the reader perceives that the word means no 
more than continual His second definition is, '-Al- 
ways. ever, in a restrained sense, i. e. at some stated 
times." And third, Very frequently, continually 
And to these definitions he quotes Mark xv. S, — •■'And 
the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him 
(Pilate) to do as he had ever done unto them.'* And 
2 Cor. iv. 11, — For we which live are always delivered 
unto death for Jesus' sake.*' And 2 Peter i. 12, — ■ 
••Wherefore I will not be negligent to put 3^ou always 
in remembrance of these things.*' Such is the signifi- 
cation, and such the Scripture use, of the word aei.^ 
which with the Avord on. being, makes aion. the Greek 
term under consideration. It is plain therefore that 
the proper and radical meaning of this v^ord is, as 
Parkhurst has defined it, simply duration^ or continu- 
ance of time : indefinite duration. When, therefore, we 
undertake to define the duration expressed by it, we 
must do this by arguing from the nature of the subject 
to which it is applied. The same remarks will apply 
to the adjective aionios, which, as Professor Stuart 
remarks in his Essays, p. 39, corresponds in meaning 
with a?o?i. the substantive. 

Thus much I have thought proper to lay before the 
reader with regard to aio7i and aionios. to show that 
when one assumes that the jjroper signification of 
these words is eternity and eternal.^ he assumes a false 
position ; that the ^proper signification of these words is 



WORDS QUALIFYING PUNISHMENT. 



107 



duration indefinite ; and that consequently whoever 
asserts that either aion or aionios does in any given 
case apply to endless duration, is bound to support his 
assertion by argument from the connexion or the 
nature of the subject. 

I admitj however, that a word may become gradu- 
ally changed by use, until it comes to be commonly 
employed in a sense quite different from its radical 
meaning. If any assert that this was the case with 
aion in the time of the Greek writers of the Scrip- 
tures, that it had then come into use to signify, prop- 
erly, or by its own force, eternity or endless dura- 
tion^ let the assertion be judged by the facts which 
appear in the Scripture use of this word. I have 
examined 351 cases of the use of aion and aionios in 
the Septuagint, which comprise nearly all the cases of 
their occurrence in the Old Testament. In those cases 
which I have examined, they are rendered by the 
English words ever^ forever^ everlastings and eternal. 
In 220 of these cases the words are applied to the 
duration of times, things, and events, in the earth. 
This I thi2ik no man, on examining each case, would 
dispute. In the remaining 131 cases, the words are 
applied to God, his attributes, his praise, the kingdom 
of the Messiah, aildof the saints, &c. Thus in nearly 
tu-o thirds of the instances of the use of aion and aio- 
nios in the Greek of the Old Testament, they are used 
in application to limited duration of times and things on 
earth. Does this look like these words having come into 
use to signify, by their own force, eternity and eternal 7 
Far from it. Their Scripture use is according to their 
radical meaning, duration^ or continuance of time^ the 
extent of Vv^hich is to be determined in each case from 
the subject. And in many of the remaining 131 cases 



108 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY, 



of the use of axon and aionios in the Old Testament, it 
does not appear that the sacred writers in using them 
grasped the idea of eternity. When appUed to the 
praise of God^ and the disj)lays of his goodness^ 
though these will continue eternallyj it does not ap- 
pear that the sacred writers by the use of aion meant 
to express anything more than continual^ 'per'petual. or 
from age to age. The phrase, from generation to 
generation.^ is sometimes used as a repetition of the 
same idea that had just been expressed by aion.^ for- 
ever. As in Lam. v. 19, — ''Thou, O Lord, remainest 
forever ; thy throne from generation to generation^ 
Now we may as well argue that the phrase, from 
generation to generation.^ expresses by its own proper 
force eternal duration, because it is apphed to the con- 
tinuance of God's throne, as that aion expresses by its 
own proper force eternal duration, because it is ap- 
plied to the continuance of God's existence. And 
with as much propriety might it be said that the pro- 
per signification of the adjective great.^ is infinite.^ 
because it is often applied to the Divine Being. 

Because the word aion did not, with the Greek 
writers of the Scriptures, properl^^ signify eteimity^ 
they would frequently repeat the Avord, when they 
would express great extent of duration, and some- 
times in the plural number, and add in some cases 
the adverb eti^ which signifies yet.^ stilly or farther. 
As in Ex. xiv. IS, — ''The Lord shall reign {ton 
aiona, kai ep aiona^ kai eti) age upon age, or forever 
and ever, and farther." And Dan. xii. 3, — " They 
shall shine as the stars {eis ton aiona^ kai eti) to the 
age, or forever, and farther." And Micah iv. 5, — 
^' We will walk in the name of the Lord our Godj^ {eis 
ton aion.^ kai epekeina^ forever.^ and beyond it^ Now 



PENALTIES OF THE LAW 



109 



to substitute the word eternity for aion^ in such cases, 
reading from eternity to eternity, and farther^ would 
make perfect nonsense. The Scripture writers ex- 
press the idea of God's eternity, by different methods, 
speaking of him as self-existent, immortal^ imchange- 
able^ of 2V hose years there shall be no end. &c. And so 
is the endless continuance of the future state of human 
existence in purity and happiness expressed, by its 
immortality, incorruptibility, spirituality, heavenli- 
ness ; (1 Cor. xv. 42 — 49 :) by the saying that they 
shall die no more^ (Luke xx. 36 :) and shall be made 
alive in and with him who is made after the power of 
akatalutos^ endless or indissoluble life. (Heb. vii. 16.) 
But it has been sufficiently shown that this idea of 
God's eternity, and the endless continuance of the 
futLire happy existence of men. is not expressed by the 
natural force of the words aion and aionios. The 
word aionios therefore, connected with the 'punish- 
ment of the icicked. is not the least proof of its endless 
duration. Xeither in the nature and design of punish- 
ment, is there any thing from which 3'ou can argue its 
unlimited duration. Even the reverse is shown in the 
first section of this chapter. There are frequent men- 
tions made in the Scriptures of cases in Avhich God had 
then, already, judged and punished the wicked ac- 
cording to their doings, even according to all their 
abominations.^ It is manifest, therefore, that the pun- 
ishing of the Vv^icked according to their doings is not 
an endless^ an nnlimited. work ; and the word aionios 
cannot make it so. But if one asserts that there is an 
unlimited punishment, and that any particular passage 
speaks of it, this must be made out, not from the word 

P Ps. ix. 4 ; IxxYi. 8, 9. Isa. xl. 2. Ezek. vii. 8 ; xxxvi. 19. 

10 



110 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



aio7iios, but by showing that the given passage speaks 
of the futii?^e and Jinal condition of mankind. 

But this, judging from what has been, I think none 
will undertake. After all the concessions in relation to 
the literal meaning and various uses of the word, when 
the attempt is made to prove the eternity of punish- 
ment, the reliance is found to be placed upon the mere 
force of the Avord aionios (everlasting or eternal) 
itself. No effort is made, because there is no ground 
of success, to prove by arguments independent of the 
disputed word^ that the subject of discourse in the 
given case is man's immortal and final state. But no- 
thing can be more conclusively settled than is the 
position that the natural force of aionios cannot prove 
that to be endless, which is in its very nature limited. 

With regard to the legal covenant by Moses, on 
whose penalties we have been treating, it in no case 
employs the word aionios in application to punishment, 
unless we may regard in this light a few cases like 
the folJoAving: (Ex. xxi. 5, 6:) ''And if the servant 
(when entitled to freedom on the seventh year) shall 
plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my chil- 
dren, I will not go out free; then his master shall 
bring him unto the judges, and his master shall bore 
his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him 
for ever, "^"^ This everlasting service may be deemed by 
some a punishment for the servant's refusal to accept 
his freedom, but it is not endless. 

An examination of the principal cases of the use of 
aionios in relation to punishment, in other parts of the 
Bible, will most admirably confirm the view which 
we have now taken of both the radical and Scriptural 
meaning of the word before us. But this examina- 
tion, and likewise additional instruction on the legal 



WORDS QUALIFYING PUNISHMENT, 111 

penalties, will be embraced in the following chapter, 
on the subject of judgment. 

In concluding this chapter, I will ask the reader to 
''hold fast" the important sentiment which it estab- 
lishes, and bear it along with him as he investigates 
the different parts of the complete Compend of Divin- 
ity. We have found the penalties to harmonize in 
spirit and purpose with the purpose of the law, which 
God instituted in love for the good of his children, — 
adapted, not to thwart, but to promote the design of 
the Supreme Legislator, in subjecting his moral crea- 
tures to established rules, of health and happiness. 
We have seen also that no Scripture word, descriptive 
of, or qualifying punishment, throws any shade of 
darkness over this beautiful hght of the subject. Thus 
is Jehovah honored as LAW-GIYER ; — and shall he 
not be equally honored as JUDGE ] Come and see. 



CHAPTER VI. 



JUDGMENT. 
"For all his ways are judgment."^ 

No reasonable person can feel indifferent with regard 
to the judgment of that almighty Ruler, to whom we 
are all accountable^ and whose government disposes of 
us. Perhaps no word has been more abused in its ap- 
plication, than has the word judgment in the Scrip- 
tures, in its popular use by modern theologians. 
Rather than being understood pf those wise decisions 
of God, by which his government is in all things 
directed for the wholesome discipline and ultimate sub- 
jection of his moral universe, it has been applied to a 
supposed future grand assemblage of the human race, 
to hear at once an arbitrary sentence, pronouncing 
their final doom. So familiar has been this applica- 
tion of the word judgment in its theological use, that 
most persons, at the mere sound of the word, are car- 
ried in their thoughts to such an assemblage of all 
mankind, receiving their final sefitence. 

But we are persuaded that this viev/ of the judg- 
ment of God does not redound to the praise of his 
glory. It does not represent him as the governor of 
mankind for their good. We are satisfied that by a 
careful attention to the Scriptures, we shall find this 
subject presented in a more pleasing and profitable 
light. We shall be presented with that adorable view 
of the wisdom and goodness of God in his moral gov- 
ernment, which will inspire us with confidence and 

* Deut. xxxii. 4. 



JUDGMENT. 



113 



love towards him. and a filial reverential fear before 
him. 

We are informed concerning Godj in the words of 
inspiration which head this chapter, that '-all his 
ways are judgment."' The original word which is 
here rendered judgment, and from which the word 
judgment generally comes in the Scriptures, signifies, 
in its most literal definition, light ^ discernment, and de- 
cision. From the same root comes the Latin cerno. to 
discern or see. With God. therefore, judgment is a 
discernment and decision of what is right. It is 
sometimes used to express his discernment and decision 
of what is right in general: sometimes, his discern- 
ment and decision of what is right in particular 
cases : and not unfrequently it signifies the execution 
of these Divine decisions. In the words, --all his 
ways are judgment,"' the sentiment expressed is, that 
all the ways and works of God proceed upon a wise 
and just decision of what is good and right. 

But we shall not attempt at present to examine the 
judgment of God in all his ways. It must suffice for 
the labors of this chapter, to consider the judgment of 
God in the ways of his government and discipline over 
his intelligent and moral creatures. 

I. The first step in the establishment of a moral 
government over mankind, was the giving to them 
of suitable Icncs. And though this work of God is not 
usually designated in the Scriptures by the term judg- 
ment, yet this is one of the --ways"' of God, which 
required and received the direction of true and perfect 
judgment. If laws had been given without a right dis- 
cernment and decision, they might have been unsuited 
to the constitution, the capacity, the wants and cir- 
cumstances of mankind. But God has wisely adapted 
10^ 



114 



C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



his la"^^^s to the constitution of his creatures, for the 
promotion of their happiness. He did not give laws 
to his creatures for his own benefit: nor was it either 
for their injury, or for mere sport; but it was for their 
good. He knew man, he knew his capacities and 
wants ; for he created him. And he failed not to 
institute such laws as evince the perfection of his 
judgment. 

Hence David sang in those strains of grateful praise, 
which we transcribed into the preceding chapter ; 
''The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; 
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the 
simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing 
the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, 
enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they 
than gold, yea, than much fine gold : sweeter also 
than honey, and the honey-comb. I\Ioreover by them 
is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there 
is great reward.'"^ And the Avisdom of God says to 
the children of men, ''My son, forget not my law; 
but let thine heart keep my commandments: for 
length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they 
add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee ; 
bind them about thy neck ; write them upon the tablet 
of thine heart : so shalt thou find favor, and good un- 
derstanding in the sight of God and man.''' Again, 
'•Great peace have they that love thy law, and no- 
thing shall off'end them.'"'^ 

A good understanding of this subject is of indis- 
pensable importance to the moral health of the com- 
munity. There are many, including even some pro- 

^ Ps. xix. 7—11. c Prov. iii. 1—4. ^ Ps. cxix. 165. 



JUDGMENT. 



115 



fessors of religion, who seem to imagine that the law 
of God is an arbitrary rule, imposing restraints and 
penances, which are inconsistent with their best earthly 
enjoyment. Of what exceeding value v/ould it be 
to them to know, that the laws of God respect 
solely the moral and physical health and happiness 
of men. Then would they say. in the language of the 
Psalmist, hate and abhor lying; but thy law do I 
love." 

II. I will, in the second place, bring to view, in its 
Scripture light, the judgment of God, in relation to 
discipline, or to the execution of rewards and punish- 
ments on men according to their treatment of the law. 
It is to this operation of the Divine government that 
the word judgment is most commonh^ applied in the 
Scriptures, when used in relation to the ways of God. 
And I expect to show that the judgment of God in this 
respect, is not the mere pronunciation of an arbitrary 
sentence on the human race at the end of time, but 
that it is an ever operative branch of the Divine gov- 
ernment, taking continual cognizance of the actions of 
men, deciding and executing what is right in relation 
to every man's deserts. 

If we suppose that God permits men to sin without 
a retribution in the present life, and that in the future 
world he will execute a judgment which shall shut 
the door of reformation and of mercy against millions 
of his creatures, and doom them to wickedness and woe 
forever, — we thus ascribe to God a judgment which 
is in opposition to the spirit of his law. For we have 
seen that he gave his children laws in love, having no 
design therein but their good. Therefore the retribu- 
tive judgment of God, which is according to the spirit 
of his law, will emplov no penalty or punishment but 



116 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



what is consistent with a regard to the good of man- 
kind. 

Indeed, the retributive judgment of God is the dis- 
cernment of human desert, and the execution of the 
awards provided in the law. Therefore we shall not 
find in the Scripture records of judgment, the revela- 
tion of any new principle of retribution, but of the 
execution, the carrying into effect, of the provisions of 
the law, with regard to the recompense of human 
doings. Consequently the subject of this chapter is 
but the carrying out of the principles embraced in the 
two preceding, on the Law and its Penalties. The 
LAW, the PENALTIES, and the JUDGMENT, will 
be foimd to constitute three connected links in that 
golden chain of CHRISTIAN DIVINITY," which, 
encircling the intelligent creation, is fastened to the 
throne of God. 

I have said that the retributive judgment of God 
is not the mere passing of an arbitrary sentence on the 
human race at the end of time, but that it is an ever 
operative branch of the Divine government, continu- 
ally taking cognizance of the actions of men, deciding 
and executing what is right in relation to every man's 
deserts. In support of this position we have the full 
and lucid evidence of Scripture. See the commence- 
ment of this administration of judgment, with the 
commencement of God's exercise of his moral gov- 
ernment over his children. To the first pair of our 
race, God delivered his law, which they soon trans- 
gressed. The law threatened, as its penalty in case 
of disobedience, an evil which is expressed, in the 
record, by the appellation death^ to be suffered by 
them on the day in which they should transgress. 
And on the same day when they had contracted the 



JUDGMENT. 



117 



guilt of sin. the judgment was set, the account was 
opened, and sentence was pronounced in accordance 
with the law. Andt there was no evil here embraced, 
either in the previous threatening of the law. or in the 
subsequent avv^ard of the judgment, that extended far- 
ther than to the time when they should - '^ return unto 
the dust:' ' 

We will pass on to the case of that heinous sinner, 
that first murderer, Cain. When he had wickedly slain 
his brother, his Maker and Lawgiver called him to 
judgment. The Judge said unto the criminal, -'What 
hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood 
crieth unto me from the ground."' Thus he is pro- 
nounced guilty of the crime. And here follows the 
sentence: And now art thou cursed from the earth, 
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground 
it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. 
A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the 
earth. This was not a mere prelude to a punish- 
ment. It was not the doing of an inferior court, bind- 
ing over to a future judgment for the same offence. It 
was Cain's full and final judgment for that crime; 
and it caused him to cry out in the anguish of his 
soul, ■• My punishment is greater than I can bear." 

Passing a little further on in the sacred record, we 
come to the judgment of the old world, which was 
drowned by the waters of a flood. --And God said 
unto Noah, the end all flesh is come before me : for 
the earth is filled with violence, through them : and 
behold. I vnlll destroy' them from the earth.'* = Ac- 
cordingly the Lord brought a flood upon the face of 
the earth, which destroyed all flesh, except Noah and 

£ Gen. iii. 16—19. f Gen. iv. 9—12. z Gen. vi. 13. 



118 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



them that were with him in the ark. In this case of 
judgment, the crime proved is the general depravity 
of the inhabitants of the world ; the sentence pro- 
nounced and executed, is, their destruction from the 
earth ; and the object seems to be the putting of a stop 
to this prevailing wickedness, and the purification of 
the earth, to make it a better residence for other gene- 
rations who should come. 

Further on, our attention is arrested by the narra- 
tive of God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, and 
the cities of the plain. The angels of the Lord 
warned Lot to escape with his family from the city of 
Sodom, saying, For we will destroy this place, because 
the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the 
Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it." Then 
the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah 
brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And 
he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all 
the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew 
upon the ground."^ Because the desolation effected 
by this fire was designed to be perpetual, at least for 
many ages, St. Jude calls it aionion fire. He speaks of 
Sodom and Gomorrah as being set forth for an exam- 
ple to others, suffering the vengeance oi aionion fire." ' 
And what Jude calls the vengeance of aionion fire, 
St. Peter, bringing the case forward for an example, in 
the same manner, expresses by their being turned into 
ashes, and condemned to an overthrow : And turning 
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, con- 
demned them with an overthrow, making them an en- 
sample unto them that after should live ungodly."^ 

Again, with regard to the retributive judgment of 
God, he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that 

l^Gen. xix. 13, 24, 25. » Jude 7. j 2 Pet. ii. 6. 



JUDGMENT. 



119 



thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, 
and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four 
hundred years. And also, that nation whom they 
shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they 
come out with great substance."'' This judgment, ac- 
cording to the word of God to Abraham, was indeed 
executed on Egypt, when God, with a mighty hand, 
delivered the Hebrews from iron bondage there. And 
if we trace the history of the dealings of God with his 
chosen people, the Hebrews, subsequently to their 
departure out of Egypt, we shall perceive that he 
kept up the administration of his moral government 
by the exercise of an operative judgment. He did not 
leave them, nor indeed this whole wide world of moral 
beings, without a judgment. From day to day, from 
week to week, and from year to year, he gave them 
demonstrative proof of Avhat the Scriptures declare, 
that ^'Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth, 
and that ^'The righteous shall be recompensed in the 
earth; much more the wicked and the sinner.""" 

In the legal covenant which God gave to the people 
by Moses, embracing the moral law which had been 
in substance communicated to all generations from the 
beginning, with the addition of a ceremonial institu- 
tion, he announced all the evils to which they might 
by sin be subjected on the score of punishment, as 
Avell as all the blessings to which they might be en- 
titled by their virtue, on the score of just and merited 
reward. For a full exposition of this subject, the 
reader is referred to the preceding chapter. 

With regard to the teachings and warnings of the 
prophets concerning the retributive judgment of God, 
they are all founded on the principles of the Divine 

kGen. XV. 13. iPs. lyiii. 11. ^'Pyov. xi. 31. 



120 



COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



laws before given, through the patriarchs, and Moses. 
Then' teachings and warnings on this subject are in 
unison with those of the patriarchs and of Moses, pre- 
senting the continued exercise of judgment, as a part 
of the ever active government of God. over his moral 
and accountable creatures. Solomon, in his prayer at 
the dedication of the temple, uttered this petition : If 
any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath 
be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath 
come before thine altar in this house, then hear 
thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, 
condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his 
head : and justifying the righteous, to give him ac- 
cording to his righteousness, " Hence we perceive 
that Solomon^s praying was in accordance with his 
preaching. When he pra3'ed that God would judge 
the righteous and the wicked, to bring upon each the 
just recompense of his doings, his prayer was in |j 
agreement with what he faithfully preached; as, for 
instance, in the passage before quoted, '-'Behold, the 
righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much 
more the wicked and the sinner.*' 

David, speaking of the then present and continued 
operation of the government of God, said, '-'Also unto 
thee. O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest 
unto every man according to his work."* ° And again, 
^'God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with 
the wicked every day." ^ This judgment and anger 
of the Lord are spoken of as being exercised simulta- 
neously, and not as being put off to the end of time. 
It was in operation every day. The words, with the 
wicked,*' in this passage, are added by the translators: 
but the succeeding context seems to require the supply 

II 1 Kings viii. 31, 32. Ps. Ixii. 12. pPs. 11. 



JUDG3IEXT. 



121 



of these words, in order to express the full sense of the 
text. The anger of the Lord is the ardor and condemna- 
tory operation of his government against the wicked; 
and this, forget it not. is every day. The same writer 
says again, "The Lord is known by the judgment which 
he executeth.'-^ Xot that he shall never be known 
mitil time is lost in the bosom of eternity, because he 
shall never till then execute judgment: The Lord is 
known by the judgment which he execiiteth f' for, it is 
added, " The wicked is snared in the work of his own 
hands.*' This was one means by which he executed 
judgment upon them ; it was by snaring them in their 
own evils. It is not admitted by all, that those evils 
which men suffer, in consequence of sin, by and from 
their own iniquity, are punishments proceeding from 
the judgment of God. But we discover from the 
Scriptures that the^^ are of that character. It was 
with reference to those very evils on sinners that the 
Psalmist said, '-The Lord is known by the judgment 
which he executeth.'' He has wisely inwrought a 
law in the moral and physical constitution of man, 
and of the world v/e inhabit, by means of which he 
executes punishments on transgressors. Accordingly, 
it is said in Prov. v. 22, ^-His own iniquities shall 
take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with 
the cords of his sins."' And Jer. ii. 19, ''Thine own 
wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings 
shall reprove thee.'' 

We might continue our quotations from the Old 
Testament to a great length, in direct support of the 
position we have assumed, with regard to the present 
and continual operation of the retributive judgment of 

Qps. ix. 16. 

11 



122 



COP/EPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



God. But a few more quotations must suffice. David, 
in relation to the judgment of God affecting his own 
case, said, "For thou hast maintained my right and 
my cause; thou sattest in the throne, judging right/ 
And in prayer he said, "Lift up thyself, thou Judge 
of the earth; render a reward to the proud."' And 
Avith reference to the redemption of Israel, when the 
Egyptians were cut off, he sang, "Thou didst cause 
judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, 
and was still; when God arose to judgment, to save 
all the meek of the earth." t 

By the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord said of his trans- 
gressing people, "And I scattered them among the 
heathen; ^ ^ ^ ^ according to their way, and ac- 
cording to their doings I judged them." " And address- 
ing Israel concerning punishments which were about 
to be executed upon them, he said by the same pro- 
phet, "Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon 
thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee; and I 
will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recom- 
pense thee for all thine abominations." ^ And the 
context informs us that the means by which this judg- 
ment should be executed upon them, to recompense 
them for all their abominations, were "the sword 
without, and the pestilence and famine within." It 
was not in part, that the judgment of God on earth 
should recompense them ; it was for all their sins. 
And this infliction of evil upon that people was not a 
mere prelude, a slight indication of what should be, of 
the execution of wrath upon them. It was the accom- 
plishment^ the recompense in fidl^ of the penal suffer- 
ings to which they were justly obnoxious. " I will ( 
accomplish mine anger upon thee." 



rPs. ix. 4. «Ps. xciv. 2 ^Ps. Ixxvi. 9, 

" Ezek. xxxvi. 19. ^ Ezek. vii. 8. 



JUDGMENT. 



123 



In full confirmation of the view, which we have 
now taken of the subject before us, as it is presented 
in the Old Testament Scriptures, St. Paul, the faith- 
ful apostle of Christ, adds the following conclusive 
testunony : ''For if the word spoken by angels was 
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience 
received a just recompense of reward; how shall we 
escape, if we neglect so great salvation ; which at the 
first began to be spoken by the Lord, and v\^as con- 
firmed unto us by them that heard him?"'' By the 
word spoken by angels,'^ St. Paul meant the law: for 
he was here drawing a comparison between the law and 
gospel. And Stephen said, in his address to the Jews, 
that they had -'received the law by the disposition of 
augels, and had not kept it.'*'' St. Paul likewise said 
to the Galatians, that the law was ordained by angels 
in the hand of a mediator.'*^ And every transgression 
of the law received a just recompense of reward. All 
the people, for every transgression and disobedience, 
received a just recompense of reward, through the 
righteous administration of the judgment of him, who 
searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, even to give 
every man according to his ways." It follows, hence, 
as a conclusion which we cannot avoid, even if we 
would, that it is not the manner of the Divine govern- 
ment, at least, that it was not in those former ages, to 
put off to the future world, either in all or in part, the 
judgment of men for their deeds on earth. There 
was no lack of justice in God's government of his 
family. They received a. just recompense of reward. 

III. Under the preceding head we have brought to 
view, in its Scriptural hght, the judgment of God, in 
relation to discipline^ or to the execution of rewards 



w Heb. ii. 2, 3. 



X Acts vii. 53. 



y Gal. iii. 19. 



124 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and punishments on men.^ according to their treatment 
of the Divine law. The same judgment will be the 
principal subject of this third division : but we shall 
here discuss God's judgment of the irorld by Jesus 
Christ ; and chiefly as it is presented in the New Tes- 
tam.ent. 

The holy prophets had spoken beforehand concern- 
ing the judgment of Christ. Isaiah had said, in evan- 
gelical prophecy, Behold my servant whom I uphold, 
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; I have put 
my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judg- 
ment to the Gentiles. ^ A bruised reed shall he not 
break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench ; he 
shall bring forth judgment unto truth.'' (The evan- 
gelist quotes it thus : He shall bring forth judgment 
unto victory.") ^' He shall not fail nor be discour- 
aged, till he have set judgment in the earth; and the 
isles shall wait for his law.'*' It appears that the 
word judgment is here used for Christ's government 
or kingdom. When he should set judgment in the 
earth, the isles should wait for his law. That is, they 
should wait for the law of truth and love, which his 
judgment, his government or kingdom, would admin- 
ister. And in the preceding phrase, ^'He shall bring 
forth judgment to the Gentiles,"' the meaning seems to 
be. that he should extend to the Gentiles the benefits 
of his kingdom. The nature and operation of this 
government or kingdom of Messiah is learned by read- 
ing onwards. ^* Thus saith God, the Lord, =^ =^ I the 
Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold 
thine hand and will keep thee, and give thee for a cov- 
enant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles ; to open 
the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 



« Isa. xlii. 1 — 4. 



JUDGMENT. 



125 



prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison- 
house." It is hence seen that the judgment of Christ 
here spoken of, is a kingdom of hght, truth and love, 
the influence of which delivers the human mind from 
the prison of darkness, sin and death. 

This judgment of Christ was again spoken of by 
the same prophet, as follows: ''And there shall come 
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch 
shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the 
Lord shall rest upon him, ^ and shall make him 
quick of understanding in the fear of the Lord ; and he 
shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither re- 
prove after the hearing of his ears : but with right- 
eousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth ; and he shall smite 
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the 
breath of his hps shall he slay the wicked.'" Then 
follows a poetic description of the blessed and happy 
effects of this execution of the judgment of Christ, in 
smiting and slaying the wicked : The wolf also shall 
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and 
the fatling together; and a little child shall lead 
them." Sach is the prophet's poetic description of 
the loveliness and gentleness of the moral world, to be 
effected by the judgment or kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
It is, perhaps, the prevailing sentiment in the pop- 
ular theology of our day, that when Christ shall sit 
upon the throne of his glory to judge the children 
of men, the execution of his judgment will bar the 
door of reformation forever, and doom all sinners to 
a hardened and irrecoverable state of sin and woe. 
But such a judgment the wisdom of heaven has 

a Isa. xi. 1 — 4. 

11* 



126 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



never planned, nor will Christ ever execute it. All 
the judgments of God are designed to effect some 
change for good. The execution of the judgment of 
Christ, as we have seen, instead of sealmg forever the 
eyes of the blind, and barring the prison-doors of 
sinners, is designed to open the blind eyes, to break 
open the prison -doors, and to bring out the prisoners 
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of 
the prison-house. Instead of ordering that sinners 
shall eternally continue in sin, it vvnll smite and slay 
the wicked, so that the most stubborn and lion-like 
spirits of rebellion shall be subdued into the submissive 
gentleness of the peaceful lamb. 

After speaking, as above quoted, of the judgment 
that was to be exercised by the righteous branch 
which should spring forth from the root of Jesse, 
the prophet adds, ''And in that day there shall be a 
root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the 
people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek ; and his rest shall 
be glorious." To the same day, and to the same judg- 
ment, St, Paul seems to have had reference, when, in 
his address to the Athenians, he said : ''And the times 
of this ignorance God winked at ; but now command- 
eth all men everywhere to repent: because lie hath 
appointed a day in the which he will judge the world 
in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; 
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
he hath raised him from the dead."^ We are aware 
that many have understood this to speak of a judg- 
ment in the future world, Avhich shall decide the eter- 
nal states of men according to their characters on earth. 
But this would make entirely without sense, the rm5o;z 
which the apostle assigns why the ministry of repent- 
ance should now, more than in former ages, be sent 

^ Acts xvii. 30, 31. 



JUDGMENT. 



127 



unto all men. If he spoke of a judgment in the un- 
seen worldj by which the final states of all men of all 
ages are to be determined according to their conduct 
on the earth, how should this fact be a reason Avhy all 
men, Gentiles as well as Jews, should have the minis- 
try of repentance now. more than in the former ages? 
That would be no reason for such a difference. But 
understanding this language of the apostle to refer to 
the same judgment, and the same day, or dispensa- 
tion of judgment, of which the prophet spake in the 
instances we have quoted, the whole appears consist- 
ent. The former times of ignorance with the Gentile 
nations, God winked at, or suffered to remain. The 
idea is expressed in Acts xiv. 16, in other words, thus, 
— Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in 
their own ways." The revelations of God in former 
times extended not unto the Gentiles. But God had 
appointed a dispensation, called here, as in the pro- 
phet, a day^ in which he would set up, by Christ 
Jesus, a judgment or kingdom of light and truth, 
which should be calculated to extend its benefits to all 
nations. Gentiles as well as Jews. He should bring 
forth judgment to the Gentiles. In the fulness of the 
appointed time, Christ Jesus came, and established his 
judgment in the Vv^orld, This appointed dispensation 
of Christ's kingdom and judgment had commenced in 
St. Paul's time: and this was certainly a good reason 
why the ministry of it, calling on men to repent, or 
turn themselves to the reception of its saving benefits, 
should the7i be extended to all men, Gentiles as well 
as Jews, — to them who were afar ofl', as Avell as to 
them who were nigh. We think it likely, from the 
similarity of expression, that St. Paul had in his mind 
the passage above quoted from the prophet, when he 



128 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



addressed this to the Athenians. For, like the pro- 
phet, he speaks of the judgment of Christy and of his 
^'judging in righteousness," and calls the time of his 
judging a day." And in speaking of the propriety of 
calling, at that time, on all men everywhere to repent, 
the apostle probably had his mind on the prophet's 
saying, that in that day he should stand as an ensign 
to the people, unto which the Gentiles should seek." 
And that the judgment of Christ spoken of in the pas- 
sages which we have quoted from the prophet, is his 
kingdom, which commenced on earth at the close of 
the Jewish dispensation, is rendered further apparent 
by St. Matthew, in the application which he makes, in 
his Gospel, of one of these prophetic sayings: (Matt. xii. 
14,) — ^' Then the Pharisees went out and held a council 
against him how they might destroy him. But when 
Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence ; and 
great multitudes followed him, and he healed them 
all ; and charged them that they should not make him 
known : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, 
whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul 
is well pleased : I will put my spirit upon him, and he 
shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not 
strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice 
in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, 
and the smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send 
forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall 
the Gentiles trust." 

But in the day or dispensation of the judgment or 
government of the world by Jesus Christ, there is also 
a retributive judgment, as well as under the former 
dispensation. St. Paul testifies, that God will render 
to every man according to his deeds ; to them who, 



JUDGMENT. 



129 



by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, 
and honor, and immortality, \literally incorruptness,] 
eternal life ; but unto them that are contentious, and 
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 
indignation a.nd wrath ; tribulation and anguish upon 
every soul of man that doeth evil; but glory, honor, 
and peace, to every man that worketh good; to the 
Jew first, and also to the Gentile ; for there is no 
respect of persons with God. For as many as have 
sinned without law, \i. e. without the written law,] 
shall also perish without law ; and as many as have 
sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, * ^ in 
the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by 
Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. It is hence 
perceived that the judgment of God, in its cognizance 
of the moral actions of men, is the same now, under 
the reign of Jesus Christ by his gospel, that it was 
under the reign of the patriarchs, and of Moses and 
the prophets, by their inspired teachings. Then, 
every work was brought into judgment, and every 
secret thing, and there was verily ''a reward to the 
righteous," and every transgression received a just 
recompense of reward." And so it is now, when God 
judges the works, and even the '-secret things" of 
men, by Jesus Christ. He will render to every man 
according to his deeds. He will award tribulation 
and anguish to every one that doeth evil ; and glory, 
honor, and peace, to every one that doeth good. 

God's judgment, under the Christian dispensation, 
is administered on the same principle on which it was 
conducted in former ages, it being according to men's 
deserts ; varying in its awards, of course, according 
to the different degrees of guilt : as St. Paul said in 

c Rom. ii. 6—16. 



130 



C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



his address to the Hebrews, which we have noticed, 
^'If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and 
every transgression received a just recompense of 
reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by 
the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that 
heard him." This great salvation is the record of 
truth and grace spoken by Christ and his witnesses, 
and confirmed by signs and wonders. And the idea 
expressed in this place is, that if the Hebrews should 
neglect and abuse the greater opportunities they en- 
joyed from these more full and mighty proofs of 
truth, they would be recompensed with sorer calam- 
ities than had ever been suffered by their fathers ; 
and calamities, too, which they could not escape. 
For if others, who were before them, received a full 
punishment for all their sins, they, for their greater 
sins, could not escape their just, their greater punish- 
ment. He introduces here no new kind of judgment, 
set up in another world, but teaches their responsi- 
bility to the same principle of judgment which had 
fully recompensed others in the earth, and would 
recompense them with a punishment no more severe 
than in proportion as their guilt was greater. 

Concerning the greater punishment which the He- 
brews should receive in the judgment coming on that 
generation, and which should be especially suffered 
by any Hebrew Christians who should apostatize, the 
apostle speaks directly in Heb. x. 28 : '^He that de- 
spised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or 
three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, 
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath 
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted 
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sancti- 



JUDGMENT. 



131 



fied, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the 
spirit of grace?" That this relates to a punishment 
which should be administered in the judgment coming 
on that generation, is evident from what precedes the 
passage. The apostle had just exhorted the Hebrews, 
saying, '-Let us hold fast the profession of our faith 
without wavering, for he is faithful that promised; 
and let us consider one another, to provoke unto love 
and to good works ; not forsaking the assembling of 
ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but 
exhort one another ; and so much the more, as ye see 
the day approaching that is, the day of their judg- 
ment or trial. For if we sin wilfully, after that we 
have received the knowledge of the truth, there re- 
maineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fear- 
ful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, 
which shall devour the adversaries." 

The meaning of the apostle in this place is plain : 
If any of the Hebrews who had received the knowl- 
edge of the truth, should wilfully, or from sinister 
motives, abandon the Christian cause, they would 
feel condemned ; and knowing that the sacrifices of 
the Mosaic law were done away in Christ, they could 
no more relieve their consciences by offering these 
legal sacrifices for sin. They would remember the 
teachings and warnings of Christ concerning the great 
distress that should come upon their land, and the 
wrath that should devour that people ; and they 
would be troubled with a fearful looking for of that 
threatened judgment, and that fiery indignation which 
should devour the adversaries of the gospel. The 
punishment administered by that judgment, was in- 
deed a sorer punishment upon the Jews in. general, 
than any which had before been suffered. For Jesus 



132 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



said concerning that event, ''Then shall be great 
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of 
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.'' And 
surely the apostatized Christians, who, in that un- 
heard-of tribulation, had '* their portion with the hypo- 
crites,"^ were the most miserable of that unhappy 
people. 

This particular instance of judgment, because it 
was designed in its results to fulfil the v/ords of 
Christ, to put down the persecution of his cause, to 
establish and extend his kingdom in the world, and to 
exalt his name in power and glory among men, — was 
called in a special manner the coming of Christ in 
his power and kingdom, and his executing judgment 
from the throne of the Father's glory; as in Matt. xvi. 
27, 28 : ^' For the Son of man shall come in the glory 
of his Father, Vv ith his angels : and then he shall 
reward every man according to his works. Verily I 
say unto you, there be some standing here, which 
shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man 
coming in his kingdom." And Matt. xxiv. 30: ''And 
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall 
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
they shall gather together his elect from the four 
v/iuds. ^ ^ Verily I say unto you, this generation 
shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." And 
having thus fixed the general time of this coming of 
his in judgment, he resumes the mention of the same 
event, in the last paragraph of the same discourse, to 
give a further description of the attending circum- 
stances : " When the Son of man shall come in his 
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he 



d IVIatt. xxiv. 21, 51. 



JUDGjIENT, 



133 



sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall 
be gathered all nations.'' The gathering of the peo- 
ple, or of the nations, is a familiar form of expression 
in the Old Testament, to denote the widely prevailing 
effects of such Divine judgments as were the subjects 
of discourse. And as this judgment was designed 
to introduce believers into a renewed and enlarged 
enjoyment of those gospel blessings which are called 
^''everlasting life/' and to pour upon the unbelieving 
Jews that punishment which the prophet represented 
by ^-a fire that should not be quenched,"' and --an 
everlasting reproach.-'' so Jesus here describes it as 
introducing some into ^' everlasting life." and others 
into ^^everlasting punishment." = On the meaning of 
the word everlasting in this case, we need not here 
occupy room to argue, for it was settled in the preced- 
ing chapter. I will here add, that it is conceded by 
all that this word, when applied to events of time, is 
used in a limited sense ; and it is plain that in this 
case it is applied to a punishment which has been 
executed on the earth. It is no other punishment 
than what Moses and the prophets forewarned the 
Jews that they should suffer, if they should bring to a 
certain crisis their moral corruptness. And surely 
they did not forewarn the people of any other punish- 
ments than what were comprehended in •■all the 
curses of the law."^ 

The exceeding severity of this particular judgment, 
which was executed at the coming of Christ in the 
end of the Jewish age, is expressed by him in his 
addresses to the cities of Israel, by way of contrasting 
it with the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of 



e Jer. vii. 20 ; xrii. 27. 
sMatt. xxY. 41, 46. 

12 



^ Jer. xxiii. 40. 
^ Deut. xxix. 27. 



134 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Other cities: ^^Woeunto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, 
Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which were done 
in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would 
have repented long ago in dust and ashes. But I say 
unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and 
Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And 
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, 
shall be brought down to hades ; for if the mighty 
works which have been done in thee, had been done 
in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 
But I say unto you. That it shall be more tolerable 
for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than 
for thee."' We conclude that Jesus did not mean 
here to teach that Sodom, Tyre and Sidon, were to 
be literally judged and punished at some future time, 
because every transgression and disobedience of the 
words spoken by God's messengers in former ages, 
had ^-received a just recompense of reward." And 
besides, that the temporal judgment of Sodom was 
referred to, is evident, in that it prevented that city 
from '-continuing unto this day." Jesus was also 
speaking of the temporal destruction of these cities of 
Israel. They had been exalted to heaven, but should 
be cast down to hades. As their being exalted to 
heaven, was their temporal exaltation in the earth, 
so their reverse of fortune, expressed by being cast 
down to hades ^ was their temporal destruction. And 
the time of such destruction to any city or nation, is 
called the day of judgment, as it regards them. God is 
said to execute judgment upon them.^ It seems to 
have been the meaning of Jesus in this case, that the 
judgment which should destroy the cities of Israel, 
would be so much more distressing than that which 

» Matt. xi. 21—24. 3 Gen. xv. 14. Ezek. v. 8 ; vii. 8 ; xxv. 17. 



JUDGMENT. 



135 



destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, that in the day of 
judgment on those cities, that which Sodom and 
Gomorrah had suffered would appear hght in compar- 
ison. 

The circumstance that the judgment of Sodom, and 
that of the Jewish cities, are presented here in one 
view, by one future tense, has been used as proof that 
a judgment was here spoken of, which was then 
future even in regard to the case of the ancient Sodom- 
ites. But this argument is seen to have no weight, 
when viewed in connexion with the circumstances 
which have now been considered, and the additional 
fact that the prophets had employed the past wicked- 
ness and judgment of Sodom in contrast with the then 
future wickedness and judgment of Israel, and had 
brought them together by the use of but one tense: 

Thou also which hast judged thy sisters, [Sodom and 
Samaria,] bear thine OAvn shame, for thy sins which 
thou hast committed more abominable than they ; 
they are more righteous than thon.''" And again, 

The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of 
my people is greater than the punishment of the sin 
of Sodom, overthrown as in a moment and no hands 
stayed on her.''^ These writers saw in prophetic 
vision the then future iniquity and punishment of 
Israel, and they looked also upon the then past ini- 
quity and punishment of Sodom, and presented them 
together in contrast by the use of one tense, as living 
cases brought to a present view. Or, if they spoke 
with reference to the then jjvesent corruptness and 
•wretchedness of Israel in the Babylonish captivity, it 
alters not the fact that the then past punishment of 
Sodom was brought forward, and placed in contrast 

^Ezek. xvi. 52. ^Lam. iv. 6. 



136 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



with the punishment of Israel, by the use of one tense. 
And this is precisely what our Lord did in the place 
above quoted. He took the judgment of Sodom, 
which, though past, yet lived before the people in 
the faithful records which were read every Sabbath- 
day amongst them, and by the use of one tense, he 
presented it in contrast with that judgment on the 
cities of Israel which was then the subject of dis- 
course."" 

Another important passage in relation to the judg- 
ment of Christ is in Hebrews ix. 27. ''And as it is 
appointed unto [the] men once to die, but after this the 
judgment; sc Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
of many; and unto them that look for him shall he 
appear the second time, without sin, [without a sin- 
offering,] unto salvation.'' 

It appears that its being appointed imto w^en once to 
die, is used as a figure of Christ's being once offered to 
bear the sins of many. Christ was once offered to 
bear the sins of the many, as it is appointed unto me?i 
once to die. What death, and the death of what men, 
does Paul speak of in this chapter as a figure of the 

m Dr. Hammond, whose prejudices might have inclined him to make a 
different application of these words of our Lord, was constrained by the 
evidence in the case to explain them as we have in this article. On the 
expression, " It shall be m_ore tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of 
judgment than for thee," he gives the following paraphrase : "And therefore 
you in all reason are to expect a sadder destruction and vastation, than that 
which befell Sodom and Gomorrah." Bp. Pearce explains this Scripture in 
the same way ; and the opinion of Dr. Clarke preponderates in favor of the 
same application : " Day of judgment," he says, " may either refer to that 
particular time in which God visits for iniquity, or to that great day in 
which he will judge the world by the Lord Jesus Christ. The day o[* 
Sodom's judgment was that in which it was destroyed by fire and brimstone 
from heaven, Gen. xix. 24 ; and the day of judgment to Chorazin, Beth- 
saida, and Capernaum, was the day in which they were destroyed by the 
Romans." See also Universalist Expositor ^ Vol. 3. pp. 27, 28. 



JUDGMENT. 



137 



death of Christ? And what judgment did these men 
enter into after this death, as a figure of Christ's ap- 
pearing the second time without a sin-offering unto 
salvation; or of his entering ^'into heaven itself, now 
to appear in the presence of God for us ? ^' By care- 
fully reading this chapter, you will discover that the 
apostle is making mention of the yearly sacrifices 
made by those men who ministered in the priestly 
office, as figurative of Christ's being once offered for 
the sins of the many. The high priest under the law 
had to die — by proxy, or to signify his death by offer- 
ing a sacrifice, once each time of entering into the 
inner court, or place of judgment : which was once a 
year. After signifying his death for the nation, by 
offering sacrifices for himself and all the people, the 
law directed that the priest should go into the inner 
court with the blood of the sacrifice. And there he 
must bear the names of the children of Israel in the 
breast-plate of judgment; ** and ''bear the judgment 
of the children of Israel upon his heart.*' But this 
going into the judgment,*' bearing the judgment of 
the people in the breast-plate upon his heart, could 
not be until after he had slain his sacrifice, or died by 
proxy, in the outer court. (See Lev. xxi. and Ex. 
xxviii.) Then (he judgment of the holy place was the 
redemption of the people. 

But '-Christ is not entered into the holy places made 
with hands, v/hich are the figures of the true,'* says 
our apostle, '' but into heaven itself, now to appear in 
the presence of God for us : nor yet that he should 
offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the 
holy place every year with blood of others; for then 
must he often have suffered since the foundation of 
the world ; but now once, in the end of the world, 
12* 



138 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



(age,) hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacri- 
fice of himself. ^^And as it is appointed," — observe 
the connexion, — ^^And as it is appointed unto men," 
the men, it reads in the original ; i. e. the men who 
ministered in the priestly office, once to die," or 
signify their death by their sacrifice, and after this 
the judgment," i. e. after this they could go into the 
place of judgment, or holy place, and obtain the as- 
surance of the temporal salvation of the people ; ^'^so 
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; and 
unto them that look for him shall he appear the 
second time," or in his risen state of glory, in his judg- 
ment, without a sin-offering unto salvation." 

No subject could be rendered more plain than the 
connexion renders this. It does not appear that Paul 
had any reference here to the natural death of all 
men. and a judgment for trial and retribution after 
that. And even if he had, it would fall infinitely 
short of proving that the retribution is what our oppos- 
ers assert. But he who candidly reads the whole of 
this chapter, will clearly see that the apostle speaks 
of the sacrifices of the priests under the law, and their 
afterwards entering into the judgment or holy place, 
as figurative of Christ's being once offered, and after- 
wards entering into his kingdom and glory, at the 
right hand of the throne of God. 

From the facts above noticed, it will be seen that 
the word judgment in this case does not directly refer 
to Christ, but to the holy place into which the high 
priest entered once a year, after dying in the sacrifice 
in the outer court. And the judgment of Christ, of 
which this is introduced as a figure, is to be under- 
stood in the more comprehensive sense of his kingdom^ 
as in the prophetic Scriptures before referred to. 



JUDGMENT. 



139 



St. Paul, in 2 Cor, v. 10, testifies of our amena- 
bility to the judgment of Christ, in the following im- 
pressive language: — '-For we must all appear before 
the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may re- 
ceive the things m body, according to that he hath 
done, whether it be good or bad." ^ 

We omit in this quotation the word done, which was 
supplied by the translators, because it encumbers the 
sense. Reading as it correctly does from the original, 
it distinctly testifies of a present judgment and retri- 
bution. The subject of the apostle in this connexion is 
that of our accountability to the authority of Christ, now 
and ever. In the preceding verse he says, '-Where- 
fore we labor, that, v>^hether present or absent, (or, 
as the general subject explains his meaning, whether 
in this life or another.) we may be accepted of him." 
The idea is, that it is not alone for acceptance in an- 
other life that we are laboring : happiness is as valua- 
ble now as ever. V^e are God's moral, accomitable 
children, and it is only by living the life and receiving 
the approbation of our blessed Master, that we can be 
said truly to live. Yes, even now we are amenable to 
Christ the Lord. We must all appear {r^ureov)6r,vu!^ be 
manifest) before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every 
one may receive the things (here) in the body, accord- 
ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 
If this were forced to such an application as to make 
it testify of distinct and final retributions, and endless, 
too, in the future world, for the deeds of men on earth, 
it would require that those who have done sovae good 
and some evil on earth, as most men have, shall be 
both rewarded and punished, blessed and cursed, made 
happy and miserable, to all eternity i For the testi- 

To the sanie purport is Rom. xiv. 10. 



140 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



mony is, that every one shall receive according to that 
he hath done, ivhether it be good or bad. But in the 
light in which this passage, with its context, now 
stands, the sentiment is beautifully consistent. It is 
the same as that which has been quoted from the pro- 
phet, (Ezek. xviii.,) teaching that the sinner shall die, 
or suffer the condemnation of the law, in his sins ; but 
that if he will turn from his iniquities and do that 
which is lawful and right, i?i his righteousness that he 
doeth he shall live. Thus is every man made to re- 
ceive according to his deeds, good or bad. 

There is another important idea in this Scripture 
doctrine concerning the judgment of Christ. It places 
his judgment-seat in his kingdom. It makes Christ 
the Judge while he is the Ruler, and his judgment a 
cooperative branch of his kingdom. So it should be. 
Who ever heard of a government without a judgment, 
— putting the judgment off till the government shall 
have ended ? What good father has a family govern- 
ment without a judgment, deferring all judgment and 
discipline till he shall have lost his government? None. 
The parental judgment is a cooperative branch of the 
family government. Yet many have believed that the 
judgment of Christ is to be postponed until his king- 
dom is given up. Such views are the blackness of 
darkness. They find no favor from the Word of 
God. From this source we have learned, that when 
God commenced the exercise of his moral government 
over his children, he commenced the administration 
of his judgment. In every age he ''searcheth the 
heart, and trieth the reins, even to give every man ac- 
cording to his ways." (Jer. xvii. 10.) In these latter 
days he exerciseth judgment by Jesus Christ. The 
judgment of Christ is, as we have seen, in its most 



JUDGMExXT. 



141 



comprehensive sense, synonymous with his kingdom. 
In the- more restricted sense, applying to discernment 
of character and execution of penalties, it is an ever 
active branch of his government, concurring to the great 
consummation, when he shall resign his kingdom to 
the Father, having subdued all things unto himself. 

It is needless to multiply quotations from the Scrip- 
tures in relation to our general subject. We have 
already carried our examination of the Scriptures to a 
sufficient extent, to ascertain with satisfactory clear- 
ness, that this world of moral creatures is not left with- 
out a Divine judgm.ent. and without a Supreme Judge ; 
but that the Lord is a God that judgeth in the earth/"' 
and that he '-rendereth unto every man according to 
his works that he is the Judge while he is the Gov- 
ernor of the world ; that he comimenced an operative 
system of judgment when he commenced the exercise 
of his government over his moral creatures ; in short, 
that a retributive judgment, rendering to accountable 
creatures according to their deserts, is a perpetual and 
cooperative branch of the Divine government. 

Most of the passages which we have quoted on the 
subject of retributive judgment, relate to external and 
visible judgments on particular people, executed at 
sundry times and in divers manners. But these bear 
fully on the question of the perfect subjection of the 
inhabitants of earth to the righteous judgment of God; 
for these executions of visible punishment are repre- 
sented as filling up the measure of retribution, accord- 
ing to that of demerit in the people. There is also a 
constant operation of Divine judgment, meting out 
rewards and punishments to mankind, by the admin- 
istration of internal happiness or misery according to 
their characters. The Scriptures do not abound in his- 



142 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



tories of particular executions of this species of retribu- 
tion, as of the external judgments, because it is com- 
mon and invisible. But it is comprehended in the 
general terms by which the subject of retributive judg- 
ment is often expressed ; as in the following examples : 
^•Thou renderest to every man according to his 
work.'^ ^'In keeping them [the judgments of God] 
there is great reward." Great peace have they 
which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them," 
''But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it 
cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 
There is no peace, saith my God, to the Avicked." 

Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the 
way of peace have they not known." "1 the Lord 
search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man 
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of 
his doings."" The Scriptures abound with testimo- 
nies, of which these are a specimen, disallowing the 
sentiment that the only recompense, or reward and 
punishment, executed by the judgment of God on 
earth, is in those cases of external and visible judg- 
ment, many of which are made the subjects of pro- 
phetic and historical record. '' The anger of the 
Lord," — that is, the condemnatory operation of the 
Divine judgment, — is against the wicked "every day." ° 
But when the sins of individuals or of communities 
assume a certain character, and attain to a certain 
degree, He who searches the heart, perceives that 
their case requires the addition of some external and 
visible punishment, to fill up the measure of tlieir 
deserts, and to operate as a necessary check on their 
career, and a warning to others. 

n Ps. Ixii. 12 ; xix. II. Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. Rom. iii. 16, 17. Jer. xvii. 10. 
^ Ps. vii. 11. 



JUDGMENT, 



143 



We are aware that there are some who contend, 
that however full and clear may be the evidence of 
Scripture for this doctrine of an ever operative and 
just judgment, it does not agree with fact. And they 
adduce certain cases of persons, of diflerent characters, 
on earth, in which they say the doctrine of a just ret- 
ribution does not hold true. But such will do well to 
consider, in humbleness of mind before God, that they 
can only look at the outward appearance- that they 
cannot correctly judge either of other men's moral 
deserts, or of the amount of their happiness or misery. 
But God looketh at the heart. He '-searcheth the 
heart, and trieth the reins, even to give every man 
according to his ways, and according to the fruit 
of his doings." If any assert that in some given 
case it is not true that God judges the heart to 
render a just recompense, the burden of proof is upon 
his hand. But the impossibility of producing the 
evidence of such a fact in any case, may discover 
to him the folly and presumption of opposing his own 
judgment to the judgment of God. Many an honest 
confession from persons who have run a sinful career, 
has exposed the error of such as had judged them 
from outward appearance. Tiberius was doubtless 
envied by thousands, for his rank, and his supposed 
enjoyment. He had every means which earth could 
afibrd to gratify his sensual appetites; and by the 
course he pursued he evinced a determination that, if 
happiness were to be found in sin, it should be his to 
enjoy. But the desired happiness was not there. We 
are shown by the following letter from him to the 
Roman Senate, that he received in himself, from the 
judgment of God, '-that recompense for his errors 
which was meet:"^ '^What to write, conscript fa- 

pRom. i. 27. 



144 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



thers, in what terms to express myself, or what to re- 
frain from writing, is a matter of such perplexity, that 
if I know how to decide, may the just gods and the 
goddesses of vengeance doom me to die in pangs, worse 
than those under which I linger every day!'**^ On 
this, Tacitus, the heathen historian, makes the fol- 
lowing pertinent remarks: --We have here the fea- 
tures of the inward man. His crimes retaliated upon 
him with the keenest retribution ; so true is the saying 
of the gi'eat philosopher,' the oracle of ancient wisdom, 
that if the minds of tyrants were laid open to our 
view, we should see them gashed and mangled with 
the whips and stings of horror and remorse. By blows 
and stripes the flesh is made to quiver : and in like 
manner, cruelty and inordinate passions, malice and 
evil deeds, become internal executioners, and with un- 
ceasing torture goad and lacerate the heart. Of this 
truth Tiberius is a melancholy instance. Neither the 
imperial dignity, nor the gloom of solitude, nor the 
rocks of Caprege, could shield him from himself He 
lived on the rack of guilt, and his wounded spirit 
groaned in agony.*' Hence, it is perceived that the 
reason and observation of philosophers discover, in 
real life, the fact, which attests the doctrine that Vv^e 
have seen so fully asserted in the Scriptures, in rela- 
tion to the judgment of God. 

It is presumed that none will dispute there having 
been, under the administration of the laAv in former 
ages, as many of the description of cases from which 
some argue the failure of a righteous retribution, as 
there are under the present dispensation. Yet Si. 
Paul testifies that every transgression and disobedi- 
ence received a just recompense of reward." And in 



^ Annals of Tacitus, B. vi., § 6. 



r Socrates. 



JUDGMENT. 



145 



the same sentence he assures us, in the form of an 
interrogatory assertion, that others must inevitably re- 
ceive according to their deserts, from the same just ad- 
ministration of the Divine judgment.' There is no way 
to be free from the misery of sin, but to be free from sin. 
And we gratefully rejoice that God will execute judg- 
ment through Jesus, even unto the destruction of the 
works of the devil.^ which are sin and its concomitant 
evils. 

Reader, our subject is important. You are in pur- 
suit of happiness ; and if you ever choose a course of 
moral wrong, it is because you do not practically be- 
lieve in the doctrine of Divine judgment which we 
have here presented from the Scriptures. Let these 
words of apostolic wisdom be engraved on the tablet 
of your heart: '-For he that will love life, and see 
good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and 
his lips that they speak no guile ; let him eschew evil, 
and do good; let him seek peace and ensue it.^''' 

B For the writer's view of the consistency of this doctrine with that of for- 
giveness as taught in the Scriptures, see the next chapter of this work, 
entitled Punishment and Forgiveness. 

t John iii. 8. 1 Cor. xv. 24—23. ^ 1 Peter iii. 10. 11. 

13 



CHAPTER VII. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 

Such is the title which we appropriate to this chap- 
ter; because, while its main subject is that of For- 
giveness, I design to present it in such connection with 
that of Punishment, as to evince their harmony v/ith 
each other. To do this in a manner the most familiar 
and intelligible to the reader, I must occasionally 
recapitulate certain principles which I have argued at 
length in some of the foregoing chapters. 

I. The Scriptures of the Old Testament teach that 
God renders to every man according to his loork ;^ and 
they also proclaim the Lord God merciful and gra- 
cious, forgiving iniquity^ transgression and sin.^ Nor 
is either of these doctrines of the Old Testament abro- 
gated under the Gospel dispensation. The Scriptures 
of the New Testament expressly state, that God loill 
render to every man according to his deeds ^ in the day 
(or dispensation) when God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ ;° and also that he hath exalted 
Jesus Christ to be a Prince and Saviour, to give re- 
pentance and forgiveness of sins.^ These two impor- 
tant doctrines of the Bible have been so defined by a 
respectable class of Christians, as to appear incon- 
sistent with each other. They hold that the sentence 
of the law against transgressors, in recompense to them 
according to their deserts, is their consignment to end- 

* Deut. xxx. 15. Ps. Ixii. 12. Prov. xi. 31. Ezek. xviii. 
b Ex. xxxiv. 7. Ps. XXV. 11, 18. .Ter. xxxi. 34. 
c Rom. ii. 6—16. d Acts v. 31 ; xi. 18. 



PUNISH3IENT AND FOEGIVENESS. 



147 



less punishment. And as ^^all have sinned," the just 
desert of all is the aforesaid endless punishment. Yet 
the class of Christians of whom I speak, notwith- 
standing they believe that the just desert of all men is 
eternal misery, and though they urge it as the plain 
doctrine of God's word that every man shall be dealt 
with according to his desert, do not mean to be under- 
stood as believing that all men shall be made to suffer 
that deserved recompense of misery. For the doctrine 
of forgiveness^ they say, is likewise a doctrine of the 
Scriptures ; and they hope that God, through the ex- 
ercise of forgiveness, will make milUons of sinners to 
be participants of eternal happiness in heaven. Thus 
the sinner's hope of final happiness is made to be the 
hope of an escape from his deserved punishment. 

Indeed, forgiveness has commonly been understood 
to be the clearing of a person from some incurred pen- 
alty. How then shall the person who is tempted 
to sin, know what to expect from the threatening of 
God's law 7 If Divine forgiveness be a deliverance 
from deserved punishment, then, though God has pos- 
itively declared that he will render to every man ac- 
cording to his deserts, yet he may render to no man 
according to his deserts, — nor can he punish any to 
whom he extends forgiveness. In this way the doc- 
trines of punishment and forgiveness are set in oppo- 
sition to each other ; and many, while they profess to 
be strenuous advocates both for the doctrine of Divine 
forgiveness, and of God's rendering to every man ac- 
cording to his works, do, in the very labors in which 
they undertake to urge these doctrines, alternately 
deny them both. In urging the doctrine of the imn- 
ishment of sinners^ they preclude the possibility of 
their ever being forgiven, and in urging the doctrine 



148 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



of the forgiveness of simiei^s^ they preclude the possi- 
biUty of every man's being recompensed according to 
his deserts. 

But I hope to be able to show to the satisfaction of 
the candid reader, that there is no inconsistency be- 
tween the doctrines of punishment and forgiveness, as 
taught in the sacred Scriptures. The better to ac- 
complish our purpose, we will view the two subjects 
both separately and in connection Avith each other. 

In the first place we will take a brief review of the 
teachings of the Scriptures concerning the punish- 
ment of sinners. In the 18th chapter of Ezekiel there 
is recorded a kind of judicial decision^ from the court 
of Heaven, upon the meaning of the Divine law, about 
which the people had fallen into mistakes. ^'The 
word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What 
mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land 
of Israel, saying. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, 
and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, 
saith the Lord God, ye shall not have any more to use 
this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine ; as 
the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is 
mine : the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall 
not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the 
father bear the iniquity of the son : the righteousness 
of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness 
of the wicked shall be upon him." Hereby we are 
informed that the law of God makes the wages of sin 
to be death. Not eternal death, however, or endless 
punishment, as they affirm whose sentiment has been 
before stated. The death pronounced on sinners by 
the Divine law is only to be coextensive in duration 
with sin. To this point the word of God proceeds to 
say, — ^'But if the wicked will turn from all his sins 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



149 



that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and 
do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, 
he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath 
committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him ; in 
his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." 
Hence we learn that it is the principle of Divine law, 
the justice of the government of Heaven, that when a 
sinner has turned from the way of sin, and walks in the 
possession and practice of the principles of godliness, 
he is no longer a subject of that condemnation or death 
w^hich is the just portion of sinners. Justice condemns 
him only while he is a sinner. And since the Divine 
law does neither ordain nor predict that men shall 
always continue in the character of sinners, it does not 
determine that any shall be subjects of eternal death. 

This view of the death or punishment of sin, that 
its duration is measured by men's continuing in the 
character of sinners, accords with the experience of 
all who have been reformed. St. John says, --We 
know that we have passed from death unto life, be- 
cause we love the brethren. He that loveth not his 
brother abideth in death."'' He and his Christian 
brethren, when they were in the spirit of opposition to 
the law of God, were in that death which is the wages 
of sin. On them was executed what God's law de- 
clares, The soul that sinneth, it shall die.'' For to 
be carnally-minded is death.** ^ But when they turned 
from the way of sin, and walked in that love which is 
the fulfilling of the law. they passed from death unto 
life, and felt that, as far as they were holy, no just 
law in the universe could condemn them. 

What is contained in the word of God by Ezekiel, 
''The soul that sinneth^ it shall die,'^ is expressed in 

« 1 John iii. 14. ^ Rom. viii. 6. 

13^ 



150 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Other words by the apostle Paul, ia Rom. ii. 6 — 10, 
^'Who will render to every man accordmg to his 
deeds ; to them who, by patient continuance in well- 
doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality ; = 
eternal life;^ but unto them that are contentious, and 
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, in- 
dignation and wrath. Tribulation and anguish upon 
every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, 
and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace, 
to every man that worketh good ; to the Jew first, 
and also to the Gentile ; for there is no respect of 
persons with God.*' It is plain from this Scripture 
that the just punishment of sin is the tribulation and 
anguish which the disobedient suffer in their sins. 
This sentiment is also clearly expressed by the same 
apostle in Rom. iii. 16, 17. ^^Destruction and misery 
are in their ways ; and the way of peace have they 
not known." The way of sin is a way of misery, 
and no true peace is found therein. Consequently. 

S Acp-d-aqaiavj Incormptness, or purity of doctrines and designs. 

^ Aionion life. Some have contended that the punishment of evil-doers^ 
spoken of in this passage, is eternal punishment in the future ?rorZc?. because 
the reward of the well-doers is eternal life. I know that the Christian hopes 
for an eternity of life and happiness beyond the grave ; not however, as the 
fruit or reward of his present doings, but as the free gift of God's grace. 
The aionion Ufe^ which is the Christian's retcard, is the life and happiness 
which he receives and enjoys in believing" and obeying the gospel. In pos- 
sessing himself of the glorj', and honor, and incorruptness of principle which 
he seeks, he possesses himself of aionion life. As in John v. 24, "Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth my word, and believeth on him 
that sent me, hath everlasting (aionion) life, and shall not come into con- 
demnation, but is passed from death unto life." Here what is called ever- 
lasting life, is also expressed by the single term, life; as "in 1 John iii. 14, 
quoted above ; and Rom. viii. 6, " To be spiritually minded is life and peace 
and in many other places. And in this passage, the reward which, in verse 
7, is called eternal life, is, in verse 10, called ^Zory, honor, a^nd peace. The 
doctrine of an eternity of happiness, as the reward of our good deeds here, is 
as unscriptural as is the doctrine of an eternity of punishment for our evil 
deeds. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



151 



men must be punished with misery just as long as 
they walk the sinner's way. 

II. Having taken this brief view of the Scripture 
doctrine concerning the jjiinishment of sinners^ we will, 
m the second place, consider the subject of gospel for- 
giveness. The original word translated /or^^re in the 
New Testament is aphiemi^ from apo^ from^ and 
to send. To send arc ay, dismiss^ deliver from. It 
occurs in Matt. xiii. 36. and is rendered, sent away. 

Then Jesus sent the multitudes away.'^^ In Mark 
XV. 37, the same Greek word signifies to emit, or give 
up. '"'And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave 
up the ghost." It is also used in 1 Cor. vii. 12, for 
putting away or dismissing a wife, '-If any brother 
hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to 
dwell with him, let him not j^^d her away?' It also 
occurs in Matt. iv. 20, 22, and is rendered by the 
word left. And they straightway left their nets and 
followed him." This word in its substantive form 
occurs in Luke iv. IS, in the sense of -'dismission, 
deliverance^ or liberty^ as of captives.''' '-He hath 
sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
ance to the captives, and recovermg of sight to the 
bhnd, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Here 
tlie words deliverance and liberty are from the same 
Greek word that is rendered forgiveness^ whenever 
this latter term is used in the New Testament. 

We have been thus particular to give the significa- 
tion of the word from which forgiveness comes in the 
New Testament, and to present several instances of 
its Scriptural use, for the purpose of discovering to 
the reader the importance of proper care in forming 
his judgment on this subject. We have remarked 

j Parkhurst on (AcpBaiS) Aphesis. 



152 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



before, that forgiveness has been commonly under- 
stood to mean the clearing of a person from deserved 
punishment. But we find that the word does not, of 
itself, signify a deliverance from deserved punishment ; 
but simply to send away^ dismiss, or deliver from. 
To dismiss, or deliver from what, must be decided in 
every case by a reference to the subject unto which it 
is applied. Accordingly, we find the original word, 
which is rendered forgive, in one case which we have 
noticed, used for dismissing or sending away the mul- 
titudes. In another instance it is used for dismissing 
or sending away a wife. In another, for sending out 
or giving up one's life. And in another case which 
we have noticed, we find the word used for delivering 
from prison, from captivity, and from maimedness. 
And pursuing this necessary rule of construction, if 
we find the phrase, forgiveness of deserved punish- 
ment, we are to receive it as meaning a deliverance 
from deserved punishment. 

But such an expression as forgiveness of punish- 
ment, does not occur in the inspired writings. The 
gospel forgiveness is the forgiveness of sins, '^God 
hath exalted Jesus with his right hand, to be a Prince, 
and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and 
forgiveness of sins.^^^ The forgiveness in this case 
is the deliverance spoken of in the passage before 
quoted from Luke. The same original word occurs 
in precisely the same form in both cases. In the one 
case Jesus reads and applies to himself the words of 
the prophet, He hath sent me to heal the broken- 
hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and in 
the other case^ Peter says of Jesus, ^^Him hath God 
exalted with his right hand, for to give repentance to 

j Acts V. 31 . 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



153 



Israel^ and deliverance from sins.'' ^ow, by giving 
deliverance from si?is, Jesus fulfils that saying which 
he appUed to himself. --He hath sent me to preach 
(or proclaim) deliverance to the captives.*' What 
kind of forgiveness, liberty, or deliverance is this ? Is 
it, as some have imagined, a deliverance from going 
to an endless prison of darkness in the future world, 
as a punishment for sins committed in this I There is 
nothing in the Scriptures to support such an opinion. 
It is a deliverance from the dark prison of unbelief, 
and from the miserable bondage of sin: so that the 
subject of this deliverance can say. This I know, 
that whereas I was blind, now I see.*' '-He hath 
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath 
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."^ 
'•For we have not received the spirit of bondage 
again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adop- 
tion, whereby we cry, Abba, father."*^ 

To render the light of our subject the more clear 
to the careful reader, we will take him to the Scrip- 
tures for instruction on the pirrpose and design of that 
gospel, through Avhich we receive forgiveness o^ 
sins. See Matt, xviii. 11: '-'For the Son of man is 
come to save that which was lost.'* 3Iatt. i. 21: He 
shall save his people from their sins.'' John i. 29; 
'•'Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 
of the world!'' Acts iii. 26: "Unto you first, God 
having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, 
in turning away every one of you from his iniqu 'ities.'' 
Eph. V. 25 — 27: '-'Christ also loved the church, and 
gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
it with the washing of water by the word, that he 
might present to himself a glorious church, not hav- 

Col. i. 13. 1 Rom. viii. 15. 

13^ 



154 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



ing spotj or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it 
should be holy, and without hlemishP 1 Peter iii. IS; 

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just 
for the unjust, that he might bring lis to God^ Col. 
i. 19, 20: ^'For it pleased the Father, that in him 
should air fulness dwell; and having made peace 
through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all 
things to himself P 2 Cor. v. 18, 19 ; And all things 
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
Christy and hath given to us the ministry of recon- 
ciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling 
the iDorld unto himself.'^ 

Hence we learn that the gospel is not a scheme 
which God has contrived for clearing sinners from 
suffering what his own word solemnly pronounced 
upon them ; but it is a plan of redemption from sin 
and darkness, into that state of holy reconciliation to 
God, wherein they will no more incur those painful 
stripes which the law threatens and inflicts upon 
transgressors. Yes, this is the gospel purpose of 
God: '-To turn away every one of you from his 
miquity;" to ^'sanctify and cleanse" you: to ^'recon- 
cile you to God,"' and present you ''holy and with- 
out blemish." And as far as you are partakers of 
the gospel salvation from sin, and of reconciliation to 
God. — so far you are partakers of the gospel forgive- 
ness^ or deliverance from sin. Of the forerunner of 
Jesus, it was said, ''Thou shalt go before the face 
of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge 
of salvation to his people, by the i^emission of their 
sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby 
the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give 
light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow 
of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace." 

^ Luke i. 76—79. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



155 



Here we are informed that the forerunner of the 
world's Saviour gave the people knowledge concern- 
ing that kind of salvation which takes place by the 
i^einissioji of their sins ; i. e. by sending away their 
sins, or freeing them from their sins. And this free- 
ing from sins takes place through the tender mercy of 
God, whereby he makes the day-spring from on high 
to visit us, to give light to them that sit in darkness. 
to guide our feet in the icay of "peace. 

Having considered the subjects oi jninisAment and 
forgiveness^ separately^ we will now consider these 
two subjects in connexion with each other, that the 
reader may see that there is no inconsistency between 
them as they stand in the Scriptures. On the subject 
of punishment we have learned that God, in -'render- 
ing to every man according to his deeds,'* will recom- 
pense ''tribulation and anguish upon every soul of 
man that doeth evil.'' Nor does the Scriptural doc- 
trine of forgiveness contradict this sentiment of 
retribution : for it teaches the forgiveness, not of 
deserved punishment,^ but of sins. This forgiveness 
of sins frees men from the suffering of that tribulation 
and anguish which God doth recompense upon every 
man that doeth evil ; yet it does not oppose the 
doctrine of a just recompense to every man accord- 
ing to his deeds, — for it frees them from the before- 
mentioned tribulation and anguish by freeing them 
from sin. Then being freed from sin, they are no 
longer that description of persons upon which the 
law pronounces its curses. 

In the present light of our subject, we can perceive 
the consistency of the sentence in the writings of 
Moses, which was referred to in the beginning of this 
chapter. '' The Lord God, merciful and gracious, 



156 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and 
transgression, and sin, and that will by no means 
clear the guilty.''' God, in tender mercy to sinners, 
employs means in his wise and benevolent govern- 
ment, to reform them, and free them from transgres- 
sion and sin. And when, by the influence of those 
means which the Divine government employs, sinners 
are brought to repentance, or turn from the love and 
practice of sin, then too they are freed from the guilt 
and condemnation of sin, and God does not impute to 
them their sins, or treat them as sinners any longer. 
They are permitted to enjoy the sweets of communion 
with God, in the consciousness of the Divine approba- 
tion, as if they had never sinned. But while they remain 
guilty,'^ walking in the way of transgression, God 
^' will by no means clear" them from the suffering of 
that death and misery, that tribulation and anguish, 
which the law makes to be the sinner's just portion. 
Accordingly, the person who has been forgiven, has 
suffered the proper punishment of his sins ; even as 
the man who has been healed of a bodily disease has 
suffered the natural evil of that disease. The sick 
man is freed from pain by being freed from the disease 
by w^hich the pain was produced. And when the dis- 
ease is removed, and the man restored to health, his then 
experiencing a freedom from pain, and the pleasure of 
bodily health, is in accordance with, and not opposed 
to, that organic law of the corporeal system which 
connects pain with disease ; for the same law connects 
pleasure with health. Even so, when the man who 
is reformed and forgiven, experiences a freedom from 
the evil or punishment of sin, and enjoys the pleasure 
of virtue and truth, this is in accordance with, and 
not opposed to, that Divine moral law, which connects 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



157 



punishment with sin ; for the same law connects a 
holy and rational pleasure with virtue and truth. The 
language of this law is, ^'The righteous shall be 
recompensed in the earth ; much more the wicked and 
the sinner.'"" ^^The soul that sinneth, it shall die, — 
in his sin that he hath sinned, and in his trespass 
that he hath trespassed, in them shall he die." But 
if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath 
committed, and do that which is lawful and right, he 
shall surely live. All his transgressions that he hath 
committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him ; in 
his righteousness he shall live.'.' ° Surely this law is 
not opposed to men's being freed from the condemnation 
or death of sin, when they are freed from sin, 

III. Thus far we have considered the subject of 
forgiveness in its most comprehensive sense, as ap- 
plying to the operation of the gospel scheme, in de- 
livering the soul from the love and power of sin, and 
thus working a freedom from condemnation and fear. 
But this word, in its more practical, and perhaps more 
familiar usage, even in the Scriptures, is applied to 
that concomitant part of the work of spiritual deliver- 
ance, which consists in a sensible freedom of the 
mind from guilt, — a restoration to the privileges of 
the righteous. In other words, it is the extension to the 
penitent of the same treatment as if he had never sin- 
ned. In the language of the Book, ^^his sins and 
iniquities shall be remembered no more." 

This form of forgiveness always presupposes gen- 
uine repentance, or reformation. For while one is in 
the life of sin, he cannot be viewed and treated as if he 
were not a sinner. This would be at war with the 



nProv. xi. 31. 

14 



•Ezek. xviii. 4, 21, 22, 24. 



158 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



whole tenor of both law and gospel. In the day or 
dispensation of judgment by Jesus Christ, as well as 
in the Mosaic age, tribulation and anguish shall be 
upon every soul of man that doeth eviL^ But upon 
genuine reformation, the purified soul shall not be 
taunted with his former errors, but he shall live in the 
full fellowship of the spirit, and in the approbation of 
the judgment of Heaven. 

This forgiveness does not involve the discharge of 
men from any moral obligation to God or man. Right 
is right, and wrong is wrong, by the law of God, 
founded in the eternal nature of things : and no dis- 
pensation from any court can make either to be the 
other. We cannot be absolved from any moral obliga- 
tion. Indeed, there is no such obligation resting upon 
us, but what it v»^ould be a curse to man to be absolved 
from, even if he could be. But practical love to God 
and man is our duty now and forever. While we 
live in violation of it, we abide in death. When we 
return to duty, with a true heart, we receive forgive- 
ness of sins, the approbation of the Father, the justifica- 
tion of life. Then can we adopt the beloved disciple's 
language, We know that we have passed from death 
unto life, because we love the brethren.''' Such, too, is 
the blessedness resulting from the Christian reformation, 
as described by the Saviour in his commission to the 
repentant Saul : — ^' For I have appeared unto thee for 
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, 
both of these things which thou hast seen, and of 
those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 
delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, 
unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to 
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 

rRom. ii. 6—16. ^ \ John iii. 14. rib. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



159 



of satan unto God. that they may receive forgiveness 
of sins^ and inheritance among them which are sanc- 
tified, by faith that is in me.'" 

In this latter sense of forgiveness, applying to the 
sensible enjoyment of the Divine approbation as a con- 
comitant of the right living, is the Avord used by the 
Saviour in the following instance: — Forgive, if ye 
have ought against any, that your Father also which 
is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But 
if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father v/hich is 
in heaven forgive your trespasses."^ We are not to 
construe this Scripture as teaching that God cherishes 
an unfriendly disposition towards us while we cherish 
an unfriendly disposition towards others. This would 
represent him who is the standard of perfection, as 
copying in his disposition after frail man, and even 
after wicked^ unforgiving men. God is unchangeably 
good, "'kind to the unthankful and the evil." Even 

sActs xxvi. 16—18. 

I Matt. vi. 14, 15. Mark xi. 25, 26. See also Matt, xviii. 21—35. 
Some learned theological writers use this passage in support of the doc- 
trine of endless punishment in the prison of hell. The man, they sa}-, who 
was cast into prison or delivered to tormentors until he should pay his debt, 
could never make payment, and therefore could never get released from 
prison ; and hence they argue, that those with whom God deals thus, (see v. 
35,) will be cast into a prison from which there is no deliverance. But there 
is no authority either for this statement or conclusion. The object of the 
man in the parable, who cast his fellow-servant into prison, was, to obtain his 
debt. "He cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt." It appears 
hence that he expected that his fellow-servant might be able to make some 
arrangement to pay the debt. And the same expectation "is expressed of 
the lord of the unforgiving servant, when he delivered him over to the 
tormenters, or jailers. And though such debtor may have died in prison 
before he had paid the debt, it does not follow that those to whom this para- 
ble is applied, might not fully pay what their Lord required. The debt 
required of them was, to forgive their brethren. And as the debtor in the 
parable was to remain in prison until he should pay the debt, so should they 
remain in the prison of death, until they should exercise a forgiving spirit. 

He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death." But there is no evidence 
that any will eternally continue in an unfriendly or unforgiving spirit. 



160 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



while men are sinners, God's kindness to them em- 
ploys means to bring them to repentance, that they 
may come into the rich enjoyment of forgiveness, or 
freedom from the guilt of sin. But we learn from the 
above language of our Lord, that as long as we are in 
the service of sin, God will not grant us a freedom from 
its giiilL If we cherish an unkind and unforgiving 
disposition towards our fellow-creatures, we are in 
bondage to sin ; for such a disposition is sin. And it 
is only by repenting or turning from sin, and exercis- 
ing love which forgives our fellow-creatures, that we 
can experience ourselves a freedom from guilt, and 
enjoy the approbation of our Father in heaven. 

Although the term forgive^ in the last noticed 
instance, seems to apply in particular to a freedom 
from the guilt or condemnation of sin, yet here is like- 
wise implied that freedom from sin itself, which we 
have shown to be meant, in its strict and com- 
prehensive sense, by the iphrasej forgiveness of sins. 
Nor can the Christian find any forgiveness in his own 
experience, but what involves a deliverance from sin. 
The freedom from guilt which the Christian enjoys, is 
only proportional to his freedom from the love and 
practice of evil. And when, as enlightened Christians, 
we pray to our Father, Forgive us our sins," we do 
not mean to ask God to let us go on in sin, and screen 
us from the punishment which he has threatened on 
transgressors; but the sense of our prayer is, Free 
us from our sins^ that we may live unto thee, enjoy 
thine approbation, and suffer no longer that tribulation 
and anguish, which is upon every soul of man that 
doeth evil." 

IV. We have now taken a general view of the doc- 
trine of punishment as it is pronounced by the Divine 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



161 



laWj and administered by the Divine government ; and 
also of the doctrine of forgiveness or remission of sins. 
And it appears to be a clear case, that as these two 
doctrines stand in the Scriptures, there is no inconsis- 
tency between them. But in addition to those evils 
which are regularly, and constantly executed in pun- 
ishment upon sinners by the moral government of 
God, there are certain special judgments, or external 
calamities, unto which individuals and nations subject 
themselves by a certain course and continuance of 
vice. And there is a case recorded in the Old Testa- 
ment, of one of these special judgments being threat- 
ened on a certain people, and their afterwards being 
preserved from the suffering of it. On this we will 
here offer a few remarks, lest it should be thought, by 
some readers, to be inconsistent with the views which 
have now been given on the subjects of punishment 
and forgiveness. ^'The word of the Lord came unto 
Jonah, saying. Arise, go unto Nineveh, and preach 
unto it the preaching that I bid thee." And Jonah 
,went, '^and he cried and said. Yet forty days, and 
Nineveh shall be overthrown." But the people re- 
pented, and the threatened punishment was not exe- 
cuted upon them.'' Did not forgiveness in this case 
oppose the threatening of God, and clear that sinful 
people from the punishment which was their just 
desert? To give a correct view of the subject of this 
inquiry, it is necessary to remark, that God informed the 
people by his prophets, that whenever he should give 
them warning of any special calamity, into which their 
course of conduct was tending to bring them, and they, 
on receiving his warning, should repent, they should 
escape the calamity of which they were warned. 

"Jonah, chap. hi. ^Ezek. xxxiii, 13. 16. 

14* 



162 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



There could not indeed be any reasonable motive to 
send a messenger to forewarn sinners of an evil unto 
which their course of conduct was exposing them, un- 
less it were to afford them an opportunity to avoid the 
threatened evil by timely repentance. Judging of the 
case of Nineveh by the light of this principle, by 
which God assured the people that he would direct 
his conduct in all such instances, we must understand 
it to be the meaning of the message which God sent to 
the Ninevites by Jonah, that by a continuance in their 
present course of iniquity forty days^ they should be- 
come overwhelmed in destruction. But they repented, 
and did not continue in their wicked course the forty 
days longer ; and so they did not suffer the threatened 
punishment of temporal destruction. Accordingly, the 
Divine forgiveness in this case did not oppose the 
Divine threatening, nor screen those sinners from 
deserved punishment. While they were sinners, they 
must have suffered those evils with which the regular 
administration of the Divine government always pun- 
ishes the wicked. But they were not to be considered 
as having incurred, or they were not to be reckoned 
by the judgment of God as fully deserving, that spe- 
cial external calamity, until they should have con- 
tinued and multiplied their transgressions to a given 
extent. And as their repentance prevented their con- 
tinuance in iniquity, to that duration and degree on 
which was predicted the threatening of destruction, 
they were freed from the destruction, by being freed 
from that degree of sin which would have incurred or 
fully deserved it. Consequently, nothing is found in 
this instance of God's dealing with sinners, inconsis- 
tent with the doctrines of punishment and forgiveness 
as before explained. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



163 



The humble acknowledgements of Ezra and David, 
saying in their addresses to God, that he had not 
dealt with them after their sins, nor rewarded them 
according to their iniquities,"^ may at first strike the 
ear as being opposed to the universal application of 
the testimony of the same David, Thou renderest to 
every man according to his work."^ But we think 
that by a fair construction of the language referred 
to, such opposition will not appear. It is not pre- 
tended that mankind receive no benefits but on the 
ground of their merits. The recompense which God 
renders to every man according to his deserts, is the 
good or evil which men enjoy or suffer as the fruit 
of their moral conduct. Besides these fruits of hu- 
man doings, there are blessings which God bestows 
upon mankind of his own munificent goodness, and 
not according to their works. Even in punishing the 
wicked according to their deserts, God designs their 
correction and consequent benefit; and this benevo- 
lent design of punishment is a good unto the sinner, 
which is not according to his sins, but according 
to the free mercy of God. And when Ezra and 
David ottered the language above mentioned, their 
people had been far astray in the path of sin, and God 
had punished and reformed them, and bestowed upon 
them many blessings which they could not have 
claimed on the ground of merit. Being deeply af- 
fected with the view of this unmerited goodness of 
God, and having that view of their own ingratitude 
which caused David on another occasion to say, I 
was as a beast before thee,'' under these circum- 
stances, their saying in prayer to God, ^^He hath not 
dealt with us after our sins,'' &c., cannot be fairly 

^ Ez. ix. 13. Ps. ciii. 10. » Ps. Ixii. 12. 



164 



COJMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



construed as a disproof of the doctrine that men 
suffer, while in their sins, according to their deserts. 
For though they felt at such a time not only to con- 
fess the Divine goodness to be above their merits, but 
also to magnify the demerit of their sins as being 
above the punishment which they had suffered, yet 
we are not to take an expression of self-reproach, 
which one utters under a deep sense of ingratitude 
and shame, and employ it as if it disproved the well 
supported and abstract doctrine of the Bible, concern- 
ing the retributive government of God. 

Y. In concluding this chapter, it will be proper to 
say a few words on the forgiveness which it is re- 
quired of us to extend to one another. How are we to 
forgive our fellow-creatures ? Surely not by remitting 
all punishment. The Scriptures consider those rulers 
who punish evil-doers to be ministers of God, ordained 
of him to be a terror to evil works. ''Whosoever 
resisteth them," saith St. Paul, "resisteth the ordi- 
nance of God.'*^ But can these ministers of God^ as 
the apostle calls civil rulers, be what God has ap- 
pointed them to be, a terror to evil-doers, and a praise 
to them that do well, if they are always to. clear the 
guilty from punishment ? If we cannot fulfil the com- 
mand to forgive those ivho trespass against ns^ without 
clearing them in all cases from punishment, then we are 
every day living in violation of the Divine requirement, 
by supporting our present system of civil government ; 
for our civil government inflicts punishment on those 
who transgress its wholesome laws. 

But we have seen that the Divine forgiveness is not 
a deliverance from deserved punishment^ but a deliver- 
ance from the love and power of sin, and its attendant 

y Rom. xiii. 2, 3. 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



165 



condemnation. And although we cannot in the high- 
est sense forgive sins, so as directly to free others from 
guiltj yet we can forgive the sins of others so far as it 
respects our own feelings and conduct towards them. 
We can cherish towards them that spirit of favor, 
which will employ such means as human agency can 
use. to lead those who trespass against us out of their 
errors, and restore them to the favor of society. We 
can exercise towards them that spirit of love and good 
will, which shall forgive the injury as far as we can 
forgive, ''sending it away from'' our feelings, so that 
it shall not put into action a spirit of revenge, to injure 
them because they have injured us. And this forgive- 
ness may be exercised towards one whom .we are the 
means of bringing to punishment. We may chain or 
confine a madman, in the exercise of the best of feel- 
ings towards him, when his own safety or that of the 
community seems to require it. Even so we may 
bring a transgressor to punishment, when his own 
good or the safety of the community seems to require 
it, while we harbor no unfriendly disposition towards 
him, but exercise that love v/hich pities his folly, and 
aims to promote his welfare. This same disposition, 
if the punishment which we are the means of having 
inflicted proves salutary, or if by any other means he 
becomes reformed, and returns to society a good man, 
this same disposition will lead us to receive him to 
our respect, and give him a brother's hand, as if he 
had never transgressed. It will dismiss his sins, or 
blot them out of remembrance. 

Here, then, is a man who has been punished and for- 
given, in human society. I do not mean that he has 
had his punishment forgiven. But he has had his 
punishment administered^ and his transgressions for- 



166 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



give?!. His transgressions are blotted out of remem- 
brance, and society receives him as a just man. And 
when we possess and practise the spirit here described, 
which scorns retahation, and desires and seeks the 
good of all, we can safely and consistently pray to our 
Father in heaven, Forgive us our sins, as we forgive 
those who trespass against us.*' 

OBJECTION. 

It has been objected, that if man is adequately pun- 
ished for his sins, and that punishment is hmited in its 
duration, he is not then saved by grace, but may de- 
mand heaven as a right. But this objection, though 
frequently offered, is founded upon an entire miscon- 
ception of the subject. What particular right to sub- 
sequent favor does a man gain by the mere fact of his 
suffering for his sins? If his punishment proves a 
means of promoting his reformation, and obedience to 
the law, it in this manner operates as a favor to the 
punished. But it gives him no claim on the future 
favor of the >Supreme Governor. 

Suppose a child transgresses his father's law, and the 
father, for his correction, subjects him to punishment. 
The punishment proves salutary^ and by this and other 
means the child is reformed. In a subsequent conver- 
sation with the father, the child inquires whether he 
received an adequate punishment for the said trans- 
gression. The father answers in the affirmative. 

Then,'' says the child, I demand of you, as my just 
desert, a valuable estate, for my inheritance." What 
is your claim?'' says the father. '-'It is the pimis/i- 
ment you inflicted upon me,'' responds the child. 
Who would not regard this a singular ground for such 
a claim? His punishment was the just recompense 



PUNISHMENT AND FORGIVENESS. 



167 



of his disobedience ; but who shall say that a rich es- 
tate must be made over to him by the father, as the 
just recompense of his punishment? Yet this would 
be in character with the foregoing argument, that if 
the sinner is made, by the judgment of God, to receive 
according to his deserts, he may then claim heaven as 
his right. 

Though punishment is, in a legal sense, according 
to men's deserts, yet there is something, even about 
this, as I have shown in this chapter, which is not 
according to our works. That benevolent, that fa- 
therly design^ for which God administers chastise- 
ment, is not according to our works, but according 
to his own infinite goodness. And when, by his judg- 
ments, and by the applications of his truth and love, he 
weans us from sin, and wins our affections to him and 
his law, we are overwhelmed with a sense of his 
favor. To think of the punishment we had suffered 
as entitling us to heaven, would be the most consum- 
mate Aveakness, madness and folly. We could only 
think of it with humihty, as the fruit of our sins. We 
have nothing for the future to claim on the ground of 
our merits. Our hopes, full of comfort and peace, are 
in the grace of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
In the light and spirit of the gospel there is no boast- 
ing ; for we feel that in us is being fulfilled the mis- 
sion of the Son, " to give knowledge of salvation unto 
his people, by the remission of their sins, through the 
tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from 
on high hath visited us : to give light to them that sit 
in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our 
feet into the way of peace." ^ 

2 Luke i. 77—79. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE PEKSON OF CHRIST. WHO IS HE ? 
SE C T I 0 N I. 

An Examination^ by the Light of Scripture, of Pre- 
vailijig Opinions concerning Chnst. 

In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, 
there is the record of a confession of faith in Chi^ist^ 
made by a leading apostle, which is so unambiguous, 
and which met with so unreserved an approval of 
Christ himselfj that I will direct the reader's mind to 
it here in the outset, that in the midst of all contro- 
versies on the subject of the person of Jesus, we may 
have this as our polar star by which to make our 
course. 

When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Phil- 
ippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men 
say that I, the Son of man, am ? And they said, Some 
say that thou art John the Baptist ; some, Elias : and 
others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith 
unto them, But whom say ye that I am ? 

''And Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art 
THE Christ, the Son of the living God. 

And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed 
art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not 
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in hea- 
ven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter ; 
and upon this rock will I build my church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 

Hence it appears that faith in Christ as the Son of 



THE PERSON OF CHRIST. 



169 



God. was the true faith from heaven, and that on 
which he builds his church. Why, then, have many- 
modern Christians required their brethren to beUeve 
in Christ, not as the '-Son of the hving God,*' but as 
the very Hving God himself? This they have done, 
and made a belief that Christ is the true essential God 
an indispensable article in the Christian doctrine. 

I have not, in my public labors, often entered into a 
discussion of this particular subject. It is because I 
have considered the Scriptures sufficiently plain upon 
it without comment ; and I have furthermore been in 
the habit of thinking, that if all Christians will be- 
lieve in Christ, as the One altogether sufficient to 
perform the great work which the Scriptures inform 
us he came to do, it is of minor consequence now, 
Avhether they believe he is the very God, or One that 
proceeded and came forth from God. Perhaps another 
considerable reason for my being less engaged, and 
saying less in public, on this, than on most Scriptural 
subjects, is the circumstance that I have never experi- 
enced any trials and difficulties on it myself When 
we have undergone considerable misery on account 
of doubts and perplexities upon any subject, and 
have obtained a happy deliverance from such trou- 
bles, we very naturally feel more interested for others 
on that subject. 

Bat respecting the person of Christ, my mind has 
never been in any painful anxiety. From a child, 
though I was brought up among Trinitarians, and re- 
ceived my first religious impressions from, them, the 
language which they used, as well as that which the 
Scriptures employ, in speaking of Christ, carried the 
impression to my mind that he is a being distinct from 
God, and that he derived his existence from God, is 
15 



170 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



dependent on him, and is ordained and empowered of 
him to be the Saviour of lost men. And as I have 
read the Scriptures, and the controversial writings of 
Trinitarians themselves, my former impressions have 
been confirmed. 

Yet there are many learned and influential Chris- 
tians, who so confidently believe that Jesus Christ is 
the self-existent Jehovah, and think the belief so essen- 
tial to the Christian religion, that they boldly denounce 
all persons as infidels who do not believe it. This is 
surely a high charge, and ought never to be preferred 
by one class of professing Christians against another, 
without the best and most unquestionable authority. 
And since this charge of infidelity, upon the opinion 
which I have now frankly professed, comes from men 
of high standing in the Christian community, we will 
carefully examine again, to see whether the Scriptures 
authorize these hard speeches, which men have uttered 
against us. 

Now if the apostles were of the opinion that Christ 
Avas the self-existent God, they would very naturally 
have expressed such an opinion in the case before us. 
For Jesus here asked them, saying, ''Whom do men 
say that I, the Son of man, am 7 And they said. Some 
say that thou art John the Baptist : some, Elias ; and 
others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith 
unto them, But whom say ye that I am?" 

He has now prepared the way for a direct answer 
from his disciples, and an explicit statement of their 
opinion, if they had any decided opinion, concerning 
him. And we have every reason to expect that now, 
after having spoken of the opinions of others concern- 
ing Jesus, in answering this direct and pointed ques- 
tion of their Lord, ''but whom say ye that I am?" 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 171 

they will express their very highest opinion of his 
character, — that they will, in a simple, an unambig- 
uous form of speech, give him as high a character as 
they think he sustains: — in short, that they will 
plainly tell him just who they think he is. 

What was their answer? That they believed he 
was the eternal God, the self-existent Jehovah ? No. 

Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God." 

Hence it appears that the apostles did not believe 
that Jesus was the -'living God,*' but that he was 

the Christ, the Son of the living God.*' If any sup- 
pose that notwithstanding the}" called Jesus the Son 
of the living God, they yet believed he was the very 
living God himself, believing that the Son was his 
own Father, and the Father his own Son, they tax 
the disciples with that palpable absurdity of which 
their own words in no case prove them guilty. - At 
this time, when they were directly asked what they 
thought of Jesus, and at every other time when they 
spoke of him, they spoke of him as a being separate 
from God the Father, — as much as Paul did of men 
in general, when he called them -'the offspring of 
God." 

If any ask whether Peter had a correct opinion of 
Christ when he called him the Son of the living God, 
the answer is, his opinion was correct, because it 
received the full and unreserved approbation of 
Christ. His reply was, '^Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-jona, (Son of Jonah.) for flesh and blood hath 
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in 
heaven.*' Here we also find, that while Jesus speaks 
a sentence with the design to express his approval of 
what Peter said of him, he uses language apparently 



172 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

without designing it, Avhich ascribes to himself the 
same character. Flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven," 

If any can believe that, when Jesus called God his 
Father who is in heaven, he meant to be understood 
that he himself was that very Father in heaven, 
nothing can be too absurd for their belief The Cath- 
olic doctrine of Transubstantiation, for inconsistency, 
is nothing in comparison. For the doctrine of Tran- 
substantiation only supposes that the same power 
which changed water into wine, changes the bread of 
the sacrament out of one substance into another. And 
this we can conceive a miracle might do. But it is 
impossible to conceive that a father can be his own 
son, and a son his own father ! 

In order to qualify ourselves to answer with the 
readiness of Peter, any who may ask us — What think 
ye of Christ ? Who is he ?— let us go back to the 
beginning, and examine the Scriptures along in 
course, vvhich testify of him. 

The first is Genesis iii. 15, where God declares that 
the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. 
No one would be led to suppose, by reading this text, 
that the seed of the woman was the very God himself 
who was speaking. This Scripture implies that the 
seed of the Avoman was a person who should proceed 
from the woman, and should be commissioned and 
empowered of God to destroy the cause of evil. 

Again, Gen. xxii. 18, ^'And in thy seed shall all 
the nations of the earth be blessed." Paul informs 
lis that this seed is Christ : not God, but the One 
whom God raised up, of the seed of Abraham, to 
bless the world. 

Isaiah ix. 6, speaks of Christ in the highest terms, 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



173 



thus: — His name shall be called Wonderful Coun- 
sellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the 
Prince of Peace." This text has frequently been 
quoted m support of the opinion that Jesus Christ is 
God the Father. But to me this very text seems to 
weigh against such an opinion. Speaking of some 
person, it is said, His name shall be called Wonder- 
ful," (fcc. Whose name shall be called Wonderful ? It 
does not appear that the prophet was speaking of 
the self-existent God, for He was already known by 
the most important names here mentioned. He was 
known as the Father of all, and not only as the 

Mighty God," but as the ••Almighty God." The 
prophet certainly appears to be speaking, not of the 
real God, but of some other being who should be 
honored with high appellations. We repeat the ques- 
tion, Of whom does he speak ? 

We will read the first part of the verse. ^'For 
unto us a child is born, imto us a son is given; 
and the government shall be upon his shoulder ; and 

his name shall be called Wonderful," It would 

seem that this is enough to satisfy any candid mind, 
that the prophet was not speaking of the eternal God, 
but of some one who was to be born a child, and to 
have a government or a kingdom committed to him. 
But to say that He, whom the heaven of heavens can- 
not contain, who fills immensity and inhabits eternity, 
was to be born a child, and have a government given 
him, is what the prophet could not have meant. The 
government, even the government of the universe, 
was in the hands of the Lord Jehovah from all eter- 
nity. Hence, the government never was nor ever 
could be given him. But when it was said of Christ, 
''the government shall be upon his shoulder," this 
15=^ 



174 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



government was to be given him ; — as it was said by 
the prophet Daniel, And there was given him do- 
minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and languages should serve him.'' 

Speaking of this same exaltation of Christ, and 
placing the government on his shoulder, Paul to the 
Philippians says, — ^'Wherefore God also hath highly 
exalted him, and given him a name which is above 
every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, 
and things under the earth, and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 
of God the Father." And again, to the Ephesians; 

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom, — 
that ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of 
his power to us-ward who believe, according to the 
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in 
Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set 
him at his own right hand in the heavenly places ; 
far above all principality, and power, and might, and 
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
this world, but also in that which is to come. And 
hath put all things under him, and gave him to be 
Head over all things to the church, which is his body, 
the fulness of him that filleth all in all;" and to the 
Corinthians he says, — When all things shall be sub- 
dued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be 
subject unto him that put all things under him, that 
God may be all in all." 

Now it is utterly out of my power to believe that 
these Scriptures mean, that the eternal God was to be 
born a child, have dominion and a kingdom given 
him ; that he was to die, be raised from the dead, 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



175 



and set at his own right hand, — and when he has 
subdued all things under him/ that then he [God] 
shall be subject to himself ! 

Had we not known that a respectable body of 
Christians hold to a sentiment which requires such an 
understanding of these Scriptures, if we had heard 
one attempting so to construe them, we should cer- 
tainly have thought that he was designedly ridiculing 
the inspired writers. But as it is, we do not harbor 
the thought. Those who hold to the real deity of 
Christ, do not mean to trifle with the sacred writ- 
ings, but have the impression strongly fixed upon 
their minds that such an opinion is essential to the 
christian faith. And when the inconsistencies which 
we have noticed are brought before them, they endea- 
vor to satisfy themselves and others, by giving them 
the milder name, mysteries. 

But to me, the idea that the high and lofty One 
who inhabiteth eternity, was born a child, killed, 
raised from the dead, and exalted at his own right 
hand, does not appear so much a mystery, but that it 
may be clearly seen to be the greatest of absurdities. 

Perhaps, to avoid this difficulty, we may be told 
that the Godhead consists of three persons, the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; these three are one, 
the same in substance, equal in power and glory. 
And this one, who was crucified and raised from the 
dead, was the second person in the Trinity, God the 
Son. He was raised up and set at the right hand of 
the first person, God the Father. 

But this attempt to explain away the former diffi- 
culty involves another equally as great. For if by 
three equal persons be meant three equal beings, each 
of which is God, it requires us to worship three 



176 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Gods: whereas the Scriptures allow us to worship 
out one. 

Should it be said that the three persons are not 
three distinct beings, but are meant only to be expres- 
sive of different qualities, offices, or modes of action, 
in the same being, who is strictly one God, — and that 
Christ is this one God ; then we are thrown entirely 
back into our former confusion. Yes, and more ; it 
makes out that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are 
neither of them, nor all of them God, nor any other 
being, but only three qualities or offices of God. 

Indeed, I have never seen the doctrine of the 
Trinity stated in any form, but that it was equally 
inconsistent with Reason and Revelation. If we say 
that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are three dis- 
tinct beings, and each one is God, then we make out 
that there are three Gods. If we say they are only 
three offices or modes in which the one God acts, then 
we do not suppose either of them to be a proper 
person or being, but they are only three offices of a 
being. Hence, when God exalted the Son, called the 
second person in the Trinity, at his own right hand, 
it was only exalting the second office in his dominions, 
and making it equal with the first. 

If we say that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
are nothing more than three names, all applied to the 
one living God, then, when we read, Unto us a child 
is born," — we must suppose either, as before noticed, 
that the eternal God was to be born a child, or else 
that one of his three names was the child that should 
be born, and have the government placed upon its 
shoulder ! And when God raised Christ from the 
dead, and set him at his own right hand, he either 
raised himself from the dead, and set himself at his 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



177 



own right hand, or else only raised up from the dead 
one of his three names, and placed it at his right 
hand ! And all these suppositions are, not as some 
have said, above reason, but below reason ; for reason 
soars above them, looks down upon them, and detects 
their inconsistencies. 

We are by no means disposed to disbelieve every 
thing that is mysterious. We acknowledge, in our 
faith, the truth of many things which we cannot fully 
comprehend. For instance, Vv^e believe in the exis- 
tence of God, -which we cannot fully comprehend. 
But though we cannot fully comprehend the existence 
of an infinite God, yet there is nothing inconsistent or 
unreasonable about it. We can form a clear concep- 
tion of the truth that there is one self-existent, eternal 
God, who fills immensity, and who governs the 
universe. 

But to say there are three persons, the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, — that the Father by himself is 
the self-existent, eternal God, — and that the Son by 
himself is the self-existent, eternal God, — and that the 
Holy Ghost by itself is the self-existent, eternal God; 
and yet that there are not three Gods, but one God 
only, is to say that of which we can form no concep- 
tion, only that we can clearly perceive it to be a 
perfect absurdity. 

Or, if we say that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
are not three uifinite persons, but only three names of 
the one infinite God, though so far there is no incon- 
sistency, otherwise than that the term son is an 
inappropriate name to apply to a being who can 
acknowledge no father, because he is self-existent and 
without beginning, — yet the difiiculty comes to view 
when we attempt to reconcile this with the Scriptures. 



178 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



For the Scriptures speak of God and Christ, or the 
Father and Son, as not two names only, but as two 
persons, two beings. And the apostles, if they have 
testified rightly, knew Christ, the Son of the living 
God, to be not a name merely, but a person ; and this 
person, the Son, spoke of another person, God, as 
being his Father. 

But when we look at Christ as properly the Son of 
God, and less than the Father, as he himself says, My 
Father is greater than I f when v.'-e understand that 
all that he is, is what God hath ma,de him to be, and 
all the power and authority he has, is what God has 
given him, — there is no difficulty in conceiving that 
he was born into this world a child ; that he grew in 
favor Avith God and man, and had the government 
placed upon his shoulder ; that he was killed by 
wicked men, and that God hath raised him again 
from the dead, set him at his own right hand, and 
has given him a name and authority above all other 
created beings. 

How, then, you will inquire, shall we understand 
the prophet when he says, His name shall be called 
The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father?'' To this 
question I reply ; It is much easier to account for a 
created being, who is born into the world for so great 
a purpose a,s that of being the Saviour of all men 
I say, it is much easier to account for such a person 
having these high names given him, than to remove 
those difficulties which we have seen to fall in the 
way of understanding the ^'living God*' to be the 
^' child'"' who should be born, and the ''son" who 
should be given. For it is well known that the Old 
Testament Scriptures often give names to created 
beings which properly belong to God, or to some of 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



179 



his attributes, on account of some part they are to act 
which shows forth the power and goodness of God. 
Thus one was called Eladah, which, according to 
Butterworth, signifies the eternity of God. Another is 
called Eldaah. the Knowledge of God. Another, 
Hiel, — Life of God. Another, PenneL^ Face of God. 
And another, on account of the Divine power dis- 
played through him, was called Elijah, which is God 
the Lord, or a strong Lord. And addressing the rulers 
of Israel, the Lord said, have said, ye are gods.'' 
It was because the word of God came to them, and 
they imitated him in that they ruled over men, that God 
applied to ihem his own name, and called them gods. 
Is it hard, then, to account for its being said of Christ, 
His name shall be called the Mighty God, the Ever- 
lasting Father,'' — though he is not the self-existent 
God, — since God has committed into his hand the 
government of the moral world, and given him a 
name above every name, that at the name of Jesus 
every knee should bow ? 

Harmer, an English author of the last century, in 
his Observations on Passages of Scripture, makes the 
following remarks on the phrase, ' - His name shall be 
called the Everlasting Father : •* It is common in the 
East to describe any quality of a person by calling him 
the father of the quality. Dr. Herbelot, speaking of a 
very eminent physician, says he performed such ad- 
mirable cures, that he was surnamed the father of 
benedictions. The original word of this title of Christ, 
may be rendered, the father of that which is everlast- 
ing: — Christ, therefore, as the head and introducer of 
an everlasting dispensation, never to give place to an- 
other, was very naturally in the Eastern style called 
the Father of Eternity." 



180 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Let US read farther the testimony concerning Christy 
to see whether he is not continually spoken of as a being 
dependent on God, and by him endowed with all his 
power and greatness. See Isa. xlii. ^'Behold my 
Servant whom I uphold, mine Elect in whom my soul 
delighteth : I have put my spirit upon him ; he shall 
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.- — I will hold thy 
hand and keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
the people, for a light of the Gentiles." Also, Isa. 
liii. '-He is despised and rejected of men, a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief,— yet we did esteem 
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. — All we 
like sheep have gone astray ; and the Lord hath laid 
on him the iniquities of us all. And he made his 
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death ; 
because he had done no violence, — neither was any 
deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise 
him ; he hath put him to grief : when thou shalt make 
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he 
shall prolong his days ; and the pleasure of the Lord 
shall prosper in his hand." 

Who is this servant of God whom he has promised 
to uphold, and to endow with his spirit, to hold by the 
hand and keep, and give for a covenant of the people ; 
who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 
who died for our sins, and made his grave with the 
wicked and with the rich in his death? Is it the 
almighty God himself? Let us not so trifle with this 
solemn subject, and with the Scriptures, as to assert it 
for a moment. God would not have called himself 
his own servant, nor would he solemnly have prom- 
ised to uphold himself, and put upon himself his holy 
spirit. Neither has God been put to death : nor can he 
ever die, and make his grave with the wicked, and 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



181 



with the rich in his death." If God were dead, who 
then could Hve 7 

Should it be here said, that it was not the infinite 
or Divine nature, but the human nature of God that 
suffered and died, I reply: If by the human nature be 
meant, not God himself, but his elect Servant, whom 
he has promised to uphold, and give as a covenant of 
the people and a light of the Gentiles, I have no objec- 
tion to the idea that it was he who suffered and died, 
and rose again^ and sits in glory at the right hand of 
God. But I object to the term, human nature of God. 
It is not in the law nor in the testimony. I much pre- 
fer the good Scriptural names applied to Jesus; not 
the human nature of God, but the Son of God, the 
elect Servant of God, the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world. 

At length the fulness of times came, when the prom- 
ised Child should be born, when the promised Son should 
be given. Previously to his being born, however, an 
angel from heaven said unto Joseph, who was sup- 
posed by the people to be his father, Thou shalt call 
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their 
sins." And immediately after his birth, an angel of 
the Lord came to a company of Israelitish shepherds, 
and addressed them, saying, '-Fear not, for, behold, I 
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to 
all people. For unto you is born this day in the city 
of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And 
this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe 
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." 

Now all this testimony shows that Christ is not 
God, but a precious gift of God to the children of men. 
For while Christ was a babe in the manger, God was 
enthroned in heaven, and sent his angels down to men 
16 



182 



COxMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



to proclaim the Saviour's birth. Yes. God then filled 
immensity, and was superintending the affairs of the 
luiiverse. 

But of the child Jesus it is said that he grew and 
waxed strong in the spirit, filled with wisdom, and the 
grace of God was upon him/'' At length he came to 
John the Baptist to be baptized with his baptism. And 
Jesus, when he was baptized, vvent up straightway 
out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto 
him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a 
dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from 
heaven, sa^dng, Tliis is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased.'' 

By whom were the heavens opened unto Jesus ? 
and from whom did he see the spirit descending? 
Who was it that spoke from heaven, ^" Lo, this is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?-" "Was it 
Jesus Christ himself ? Was he the very God who 
spoke from heaven at that time? and did he declare 
himself to be his own Son? Can it be that there are 
any Christians who will call us infidels for believing 
that Jesus Christ was not the very God who spoke 
from heaven ; when the voice said of this same Jesus, 

Lo, this is my beloved Son?" If so, then so it 
must be. For we must still believe that He who spoke 
from heaven was not Jesus himself, but another being, 
and the One who sent Christ into the world. 

If any ask us, Who do ye say that Jesus is ? we 
must answer with Peter, He is the Christy the Son of 
the living God.''' And though men may condemn us, 
Jesus himself will say, Blessed are ye : for flesh and 
blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father 
who is in hea>ven ; — and upon this rock will I build 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



183 



my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it." 

SECTION II. 

A more particular view of the New Testament Teach- 
ings of the Person of Christ. 

In the preceding section, after remarking on the 
importance which some Christians have attached to 
the doctrine of Christ's proper Deity, we entered into 
a comparison of such doctrine with its own parts, and 
into an examination of the Scriptures which testify of 
him. W e found the doctrine of the Trinity, in every 
form in which its advocates have stated it, to be both 
incongruous in itself, and utterly inconsistent with the 
Divine testimony. 

Taking as our motto the divinely commended profes- 
sion of Peter, Thou art the Son of the living God," 
we attended chiefly to the Old Testament Scriptures, 
to the prophecies concerning Christ. But we came 
into the New Testament so far as to notice the proc- 
lamation of Jesus' birth, and the history of his bap- 
tism by John, when the heavens were opened unto 
him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a 
dove and lighting upon him ;— and, lo, a voice from 
heaven, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased." We left the subject by remarking that, if 
there are any who will call us infidels for not believ- 
ing that Jesus was the very God who spake from 
heaven at that time, so they may call us ; for we must 
still beheve that He who then spoke from heaven was 
not Jesus himself, bat another Being, and the One who 
sent Jesus into the world. 

As we read on in the New Testament, we find in 
every chapter more or less evidence that Jesus is a 



184 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



being distinct from God, that he is dependent on God, 
receiving all his power and authority from him. In all 
his instructions to the people he spake to them of their 
Father and his Father in heaven. He says. ^ly 
Father is greater than I.'" am not come of myself : 
— for he [the Father] sent me.'' For I came down 
from heaven, not to do mine own wiU. but the will of 
hun that sent me.'' The Son can do nothing of 
himself, but what he seeth the Father do.'' He gave 
thanks to God. and prayed to him. '-At that time 
Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these 
thmgs from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes. Even so. Father, for so it seemed 
good m thy sight." At the grave of Lazarus, when 
he performed one of the most wonderful of his 
miracles, he thanked God that he had heard his 
prayer, and given him such an opportunity to prove 
to the people the divinity of his mission. --And 
Jesus lifted np his eyes, and said, Father, I thank 
thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that 
thou hearest me always : but because of the people 
that stand by I said it, that they may believe that 
thou hast sent me." 

At another time, when he had sent his disciples 
on board of a ship, and dismissed the multitudes, 
'•he went apart into a mountain to pray; and when 
the evening was come, he was there alone." And 
when he was in the agonies of death on the cross, 
w^hen God, as it appears, suffered his mind to sink 
for a moment, that he might know how to be touched 
Avith the feeling of our infirmities, '-'Jesus cried with 
a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is to 
say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



185 



What an affecting scene ! Go and visit the lovely- 
child— 

"A manger's his cradle, a stall his abode, 
The oxen are near him, and gaze on the babe." 

See him when he has gone about his Father's work. 
''He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sor- 
rows and acquainted with grief" He '"hath not 
where to lay his head." But in all his works he 
breathes the love of heaven. See him weeping with 
the afflicted. See him calling poor sinners around 
him, to feed them with the words of everlasting life. 
''The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; 
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear ; the dead 
are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached 
unto them." He is the Friend of man, sent of God, 
to be the Light, the Life, and the Saviour of the 
world. 

And now, lo, he is seized by a band of ruffians, 
dragged to a mock trial, hastily adjudged to a shame- 
ful and painful death, crowned with thorns ; those 
hands which had ever been employed in works of 
love to men, and those feet which had always trodden 
the paths of virtue, are pierced with the cold iron, 
and nailed fast to the rugged wood. His friends all 
forsake him : his enemies revile him, and sport with 
his miseries ; his mind begins to sink, and he ex- 
claims, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me?" 

On the ground that this Jesus was a created being, 
dependent on God, and ordained of him to be the 
Saviour of the world, all this view which we have 
now taken of him, from the Scriptures, appears an 
affecting reality. But to suppose that he, whom we 
16* 



186 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAxN DIVINITY. 



have just viewed upon the cross, and heard exclaim, 
'•My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'' 
was the very self-existent God himself, would change 
the whole scene into a farce. For to represent God 
as crying aloud in distress, and asking why he had 
forsaken himself, is to represent that which never has 
been, nor ever can be a reality. And further, when 
Jesus was about to expire, he said, '' Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit." 

Indeed, Jesus, in all his conversation with both 
friends and enemies, never once professed to be the 
self-existent God, nor did he ever drop a word that 
appears to have been designed to intimate such an 
idea. 

It is recorded in the 10th of John, that Jesus said at 
a certain time to the Jews, '-I and my Father are 
one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone 
him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have 
I shown you from my Father ; for which of these 
works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, 
saying, For a good w^ork we stone thee not, but for 
blasphemy ; and because thou, being man, makest 
thyself God." Hence it appears that the Jews, 
enemies of Jesus, accused him with making himself 
God, because he said, I and my Father are one." 

But we will not leave this without looking further, 
to see whether Jesus made any answer, and what 
answer he made to this accusation. For perhaps 
they falsely accused him. We know that they fre- 
quently misunderstood him, and were always dis- 
posed to put the most unfavorable construction on 
what he said. It was but a short time before this 
that they charged him with having a devil, for 
saying, '-If any man keep my saying, he shall never 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



187 



see death.'' "Now," said the Jews. we know that 
thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets ; 
and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying he shall never 
taste of death." Here the Jews condemned Jesus for 
his words without understanding them. They sup- 
posed him to mean, that his disciples should not see 
natural death. Whereas he had reference to the death 
of carnal-mindedness and unbelief, which a man never 
suffers when he keeps the saying of Christ, which is 
spiritual life. 

So it is very likely they falsely accused Jesus, when 
they charged him with making himself God. To their 
settled enmity towards Jesus, add their jealousy of 
impostors, who were often rising up in the nations 
around them, and pretending to be gods, and we need 
not wonder that they fancied they saAV such preten- 
sions in Jesus, when there was no ground for their 
suspicion. 

I say, impostors were often rising up in the idola- 
trous nations around, pretending to be gods : and the 
people were duped by them, so that in their worship 
they would deify those impostors, and adore them as 
the true Divinity. When Caius, not far from our 
Saviour's time on earth, attempted to force the Jews 
to set up his statue in their temple, and to do as his 
other subjects, who received him as they received the 
gods, and sware by his name, they chose to die rather 
than to do this thing. For their Scriptures taught 
them to worship none as God but the invisible Jeho- 
vah. Though they looked for the Messiah of whom 
the prophets spake, yet they did not expect him to be 
the infinite God, but the Servant of God, the Elect of 
God, the Saviour of Israel. 

Let us see now what answer Jesus, the Messiah of 



188 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



whom the prophets spake, gave to the Jews, when 
they charged him with making himself God. If he 
really meant to claim supreme Divinity, he would of 
course refer them to some Scripture, if there were any 
such, which would clearly show that the predicted 
Messiah was to be the very invisible God. 

His answer, however, is this; — ^'Is it not written 
in your law, I said, ye are gods? If he called them 
gods unto whom the word of God came, and the 
Scriptures cannot be broken, say ye of him whom the 
Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world. Thou 
blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?'' 

Here Jesus refers his accusers to the portion of their 
Scriptures which we quoted in the preceding section. 
Who were they that were called gods ? They were 
the rulers of Israel. Why were they called gods 1 
Because the word of God came to them ; or God, in 
some measure, displayed his power and goodness to 
the people through their instrumentality. 

What ! did Christ refer his opposers to a case where 
men were called gods, to show them that it was proper 
for him to make himself the essential God ? No ; for 
the circumstance that men were called gods to whom 
the word of God came, could have no bearing upon 
the question of Christ's being the real God. But he 
referred to this Scripture to show his opposers that 
their charging him with blasphemy, and with making 
himself God, was rash, and unjust: for though he 
professed to be the one whom the Father hath sanc- 
tified and sent into the world," yet he had never 
applied to himself so great a name as their Scriptures 
applied to their ancient rulers. For they were called 
gods^ and he had only professed to be the So?i of God. 

I should think that this answer of Christ to the 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



189 



Jews would be satisfactory proof to any candid mind 
who will examine it, that Jesus meant to disclaim 
any pretension to being the self-existent God. He 
says, to be sure, that he and his Father are one. And 
he also prays to his Father, that all believers on him 
may be one in them, even as they are one."" Not that 
they may all be one person, nor all be gods ; but that, 
as the Father and Son are one in spirit and purpose, 
so in this sense believers may all be one in them ; 
being co-workers together vv^ith the spirit of grace and 
truth. 

But the first part of the first chapter of John's gospel 
is quoted with great confidence, as proof of. the proper 
Deity of Christ. ''In the beginning was the word, and 
the word was with God, and the word was God." But 
even this passage stands rather as a disproof of such 
sentiment. I think that any unprejudiced mind, on 
reading this passage, must be struck v/ith the impres- 
sion that the Word here spoken of is something dis- 
tinct from God, as it is said to be with God. To say 
of the self-existent Deity, that he was in the beginning 
with God^ w^ould be a senseless expression. 

Christ is, by a metonymy of speech, called the 
Word of God, because the word or counsel of God is 
revealed through him. This counsel was with God 
in the beginning of his works, and is now manifested 
unto us through Jesus Christ, who was sent in the 
flesh to dwell among men, and show forth the word 
of life in the most familiar and exemplary manner. 

Hence it is said at verse 14th, And the Word was 
made flesh and dwelt among us." And it is by the 
same metonymy of speech that it is said, '' And the 
word was God," as is employed in the saying that 

a John xvii. 20, 21. 



190 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of 
God/'b Christ is the wisdom of God; i. e. the wis- 
dom of God is wonderfully displayed through him. 
Christ is the power of God ; i. e. the Divine power is 
strikingly manifested in him. And the word was 
God ; i. e. the word, Christ, was a manifestation of 
God himself, in the fulness of his moral perfections. 
As we have just seen, they were called gods to whom 
the word of God came. 

But the 3d verse has likewise been brought forward 
in proof of Christ's being very God. ^' K\\ things were 
made by him, and without him was not anything 
made that was made." But if even the word rendered 
Qiiade in this place signified to create^ it would not 
make out but Christ was, as many hold, a subordinate 
being, unto whom God gave creative power. The 
original word, however, which is rendered made, in 
this case, and which occurs fifty-three times in this 
Gospel of John, signifies to 6e, to come^ to become^ to 
come to jyass : also, to be done or transacted;'' as in 

b 1 Cor. i. 24. 

c See note to London Im. Version, in loco. To make this definition of 
egeneto obvious to the common reader, I will here refer him to every instance 
of its occurrence in St. John's Gospel. Besides the third verse above re- 
marked upon, it occurs in the following places : — i, 6, and is rendered was ; 
" There was a man sent from God." i. 10, and is rendered made; He was 
iu the world, and the world was made by him." The Improved Version 
renders it enlightened ; and Cappe translates it, " The world was made for 
him ;" understanding by the world the Jewish dispensation, as in Gal. iv. 3 ; 
Col. ii. 8, 20. Again, i. 12, it is rendered, to become; " To them gave he 
power to become the sons of God." i. 14, it is rendered was made; "The 
Word was made flesh i. e. it was, or it became flesh, i. 15, it is rendered 
is; " He is before me." i. 17, came; "But grace and truth came by Jesus 
Christ." i. 2S, were done ; " These things icere done in Bethabara." ii. 1, 
it stands for 2cas ; " There was a marriage in Cana." ii. 9, it is was again ; 
" And knew not whence it iras." iii. 9, be; "How can these things 6e?" 
iii. 25, arose ; " Then there arose a question." iv. 14, shall be; " The water 
that I shall give him shall be in him," &c. v. 4, was made ; " Whosoever 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



191 



chap. XV. 7, where the same word in the future 
tense is rendered shall be done. ''If ye abide in me, 
and I in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall 
be done unto you." And so in this place, the sense 
appears to be, that All things (i. e. all things in the 
Christian dispensation) were done by him,'' or by his 
authorit}^ Accordingly, St. Paul said, "I can do all 
things (meaning all things appertaining to his sphere 
of action in the gospel ministry) through Christ that 
strengtheneth me." 

The same sentiment which John expresses in the 
beginning of his gospel, he brings to view also in the 
commencement of his first epistle, ''That which was 
from the beginning, which Ave have heard, which we 
have seen with our eyes, which v/e have looked upon, 

then first stepped in, was made whole." The same in verses 6, 9, 14. But in 
verse 14, it occurs a second time, for come, or happen; " Lest a worse thing 
come unto thee." vi. 16, icas come; "And when even was now come.^^ 
vi. 17, was ; " And it was now dark." vi. 19, were ; " And they were afraid." 
vi. 21, was ; " And immediately the ship was at the land." vi. 25, earnest ; 
" Rabbi, when earnest thou hither ?" vii. 43, \cas ; So there was a division 
among the people." viii. 33, he made, i. e. become; How sayest thou then, 
Ye shall he made free?" viii. b^^icas; "Before Abraham teas." ix. 22, 
should he; " He should he put out of the synagogue." ix. 27, he; " Will ye 
also he his disciples?" ix. 39, he made; "Might he made blind.'' x. 16, 
be; " And there shall he one fold." x. 19, icas \ "' And there was a division." 
The same at verse 22 ; " And it icas at Jerusalem." In xii. 29, it is not sep- 
arately translated, but stands in the phrase translated, " it thundered,^' i. e. 
it did thunder. In the next, the 30th verse, it is used for came ; "' This voice 
came not for my sake." xii. 36, be; " That ye may be sons of hght." xii. 42, 
it is, should be. xiii. 2, being ; " Supper being ended." At verse 19th, it 
is twice rendered come to pass. xiv. 22, is; "Lord, how is it?" xiv. 29, 
came to pass, repeated, xv. 7, he done; "It shall he done unto thee." In 
the next verse it is rendered, will be. xvi. 20, shall be; " Your sorrow shall 
6e turned into joy." xix. 36, were done; "For these things were done. 
XX. 27, be ; " Be not faithless." xxi. 4, was come; "' But when the morning 
was now come.'- These are all the cases of the use of FlKOMAl^ or 
cyersTo, in St. John's Gospel, And the reader cannot fail to see, from 
the evangelist's use of the word, that its meaning is correctly defined above. 
The same is its general usage. It bears not the sense oi create. 



192 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and our hands have handled of the word of hfe : (for 
the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear 
witness, and show unto you that aionion life, which 
was with the Father, and was manifested unto us ;) 
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto 
you.'' 

But it has been thought by some that the miracles 
of Christ prove him to be God ; for he did those works 
which none but God could do. 

To this we reply, so did Moses and Elijah do works 
which none but Divine power could perform. Yet 
none ever thought of arguing from this that they were 
gods. God wrought miracles by them. So of Christ. 
Peter, in addressing the Jews concerning him, said, 

Ye men of Israel, hear these words : Jesus of Naza- 
reth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, 
and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in 
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; Him 
being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked 
hands have crucified and slain. — This Jesus hath 
God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. There- 
fore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and 
having received of the Father the promise of the 
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye do now 
see and hear. Therefore, let all the house of Israel 
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, 
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."^ 

From this we discover that the miracles of Christ 
were wrought indeed by the power of God, because 
God imparted of his Divine power to him. And here 
also the truth is confirmed of what we have before 
learned, that though Jesus is to be honored as Lord 

d Acts ii. 22, 33—36. 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



193 



and Christ, it is because the Father hath made him to 
be both Lord and Christ. 

Another circumstance which has been adduced in 
proof of the proper Deity of Christ, is that of his being 
a proper object of worship. It is said, '^Thou shalt 
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
serve." Now as the Scriptures allow us to worship 
none but God, if it can be shown that they justify the 
worship of Christ, it has been thought to prove that 
he is God. And that the Scriptures do justify the 
worship of Christ, is thought to be proved from texts 
like these; Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11; Wherefore God also 
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that 
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, — and that every tongue should con- 
fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father." Rev. v. 13; ''And every creature which is 
in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and 
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
Lamb, forever and ever." 

But here, though it is proved that every knee shall 
bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue ascribe 
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power to God and 
the Lamb, yet this does not show that the Lamb is to 
be worshipped as God. It only shows that all proper 
honor is to be given him, as the '' the Lamb of God 
that taketh away the sin of the world ;" as the exalted 
''Prince and Saviour," the "Head of every man." 

To worshrp^ simply signifies, to respect, to honor, to 
reverence. And respect is to be shown to every one 
who fills any important station above us, according to 
his. grade and merit. "It is written, Thou shalt wor- 
17 



194 



COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



ship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou served 
Does this mean that servants shall not serve their mas- 
ters, children their parents, nor subjects their rulers? 
No. It simply means that we are to worship and 
serve the Lord only, as God. Nor are we to serve 
others in any sense, whose service will require us to 
transgress the law of God. But we are to pay proper 
respect to all who are appointed of God to fill neces- 
sary stations above us ; and even in doing this, we 
are honoring and serving God, because he requires it 
of us. 

So when we ascribe blessing and honor to the 
Lamb, and adore Jesus above all beings in the uni- 
verse, (excepting Him only who hath exalted him, and 
put all things under him,) by so doing we honor God. 
Because it was for this purpose that God exalted 
Jesus, and gave him a name which is above every 
name ; — it was that men should honor him, that every 
knee should bow to him. Accordingly, when we con- 
fess that Jesus Christ is Lord,'' it is ''to the glory of 
God the Father;" because he hath raised up Jesus. 
'' and made him both Lord and Christ." 

There are some other arguments which are brought 
up to prove the Deity of Christ, which we do not deem 
it important to consider in this place. But after all 
controversy on the subject, it stands a solemn truth, 
that, " There is one God, and one Mediator between 
God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave him- 
self as a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."* 

Does any one ask if we deny the divinity of Christ? 
I answer, No. We deny no divinity which the Scrip- 
tures ascribe to him. We honor him as a divine per- 
son, because God has, to an extraordinary degree, 

« 1 Tim. 5, 6. 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



195 



communicated to him of his Divine perfections. We 
honor him as the Son of God. in a sense in which no 
other being in the universe is his Son. We beUeve in 
him as the one who possesses a power from God 
which no other prophet ever possessed; a power to 
look into time, past and to come, not like the pro- 
phets, who had things made known to them by signs 
and visions, but intuitively : that he could see intui- 
tively the events of futurity, and that he can see 
the mind of the whole human family, and know their 
wants. 

When Jesus described to his disciples the events 
that were to come in the end of that age, he spake not 
like the prophets, who only repeated what God had 
spoken to them in some vision : but he spake as of 
things which he saw, as an eye-witness Vv^ould see 
them as they transpired. Not that his knowledge is 
as infinite as the knowledge of God, for he spoke of one 
event the time of which he did not know. None knew 
it but the Father. But he had all knowledge given 
him which was necessary for his carrying on the work 
of his great and important mission. And what knowl- 
edge is imparted to him, is like the knowledge of God, 
intuitive. That is, he can see things which have been, 
which are, and which are to be. immediately by the 
mind, or by perception, without the use of those means 
through which others must gain their knowledge. 
Hence, when Jesus was beyond Jordan, he saw that 
Lazarus, in Bethany, was dead. He conld see the 
thoughts of his enemies; and he knew that his disci- 
ples had been disputing, when they were on their way 
to Capernaum. It is truly a pleasing reflection, that 
while we have a High Priest above who knows how 
to be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, he 



196 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



also sees our condition, and knows what our infirmi- 
ties are ; and that he knows how to apply such means, 
and at the best time too, as shall heal our infirmities. 

If yon ask whether I do not weaken the ground of 
hope in the accomphshment of the wonderful work of 
love, by holding Christ to be a dependent being, I an- 
swer, no. For God, on whom he is dependent, has 
spoken it, and it shall be done. Thus saith Jehovah, 
who cannot lie : Behold my Servant whom I uphold; 
mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth. =^ ^ He 
shall not fail nor be discouraged."^ '^The pleasure 
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand ; and he shall 
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." ° The 
work is as sure to be accomplished, then, as God is 
true. 

Hence, though we believe in Christ, not as God, but 
as the ^^Son of the living God," we ascribe to him a 
higher character, and make him a more effectual and 
extensive Saviour, than most of those who call him 
God. Yes, when our opponents charge us with dis- 
honoring Jesus, let it be told them, we honor him 
as the efficient Saviour of the world ; but ye do not. 
And we honor Jesus by acknowledging his existence; 
but ye, in effect, deny his existence. And can it be 
honoring Jesus to deny his very being? 

We, while we believe in God, believe also in Christ. 
But ye deny the existence of Jesus Christ, that one 
Mediator between God and man ; for ye say there is 
no Christ but God. Thus you would take away the 
lovely Jesus, for whose birth so many saints and 
angels have sung praise to God. But our faith de- 
lights to cling to his existence. We admire the Divine 



f Isa. xlii. 1 



e Isa. liii. 11. 



PERSON OF CHRIST. 



197 



plan of a Mediator between God and men, who, under 
God, shall be our Head, our Leader, forever. 

Finally, brethren, however men may reproach us 
for it, let us be satisfied to believe in Christ as '^the 
Son of the living God.'' On this rock, i. e. on this 
faith, Christ declares he will build his church, and the 
gates of hell (hades, the grave) shall not prevail 
against it. 

Now gates are places of entry. By the gates of 
hades, the grave, Jesus evidently meant those tribula- 
tions and persecutions from the hands of wicked men, 
which were as gates or entries into the grave. These 
shall not prevail against that faith which is built on 
Christ as the Son of God. 

Now in this country there are not these same causes 
to annoy us. Still there are gates of hades. . Sickness 
and death will bring us to the grave. But shall these 
prevail against our faith in the Son of God, who is 
our Resurrection and our Life, — and by whom the 
Lord God hath promised to destroy death, and wipe 
away tears from off all faces ? O, may our faith in this 
mighty Saviour be strong and unmoved, and so our 
hope in immortality shall remain bright and clear. 
How exceedingly precious is this hope? How valu- 
able above all things on earth. With this hope we 
are rich; without it, we are poor indeed. Christian, 
when you see the devastations of sickness and death 
among your friends and neighbors, and reahze that 
you too must be brought to death, to the house ap- 
pointed for all living,- — for what would you exchange 
the hope that Heaven's immortal spring shall come, 
death be swallowed up in the victory of life, and 
tears be wiped away from off all faces 7 This hope, 
17# 



198 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



this priceless hope is yourSj through a hving faith in 
the SON OF GOD. 

SECTION III. 

Christ the Image of God : and Exalted in his Glory, 

So rich and sublime are the sentiments involved in 
the person and character of Christ, that we must give 
to the subject another section in this elementary book. 
The points of view in which I wish farther to present 
him to the reader, are com.prised in the following 
language of St. Paul, (Heb. i. 3:) TF/^o being the 
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his 
person^ and upholding all things by the word of his 
poicer. ivhen he had by himself purged onr sins^ sat 
down at the right hand of the Majesty on high!^^ 

In these few words of inspiration, which I will call 
the text of this section of my work, we have a sum- 
mary of what constitutes the excellence, the trust- 
worthiness, the loveliness and glory of the blessed 
Saviour. The passage relates to the moral character, 
the priestly office, the divine authority, the glorious 
exaltation and final triumph of the Son of God. 

I. The first view which is here given us of Jesus 
Christ, is that of his being the Brightness of the Fa- 
ther's glory ^ and the express Image of his person. 

We do not learn hence that Jesus Christ is the 
eternal Father, — though this is another of the texts 
which have been applied to such a sentiment. And 
here I will add a few remarks to what was said in the 
beginning of this chapter, touching the importance of 
this controversy. I said that I had not been in the 
habit of often discussing the question of Trinity and 
Unity, because I had not attached to it, or to the con- 



CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 



199 



troversy upon it, so much importance as is attached to 
it by many. It is important in its place, but not of 
capital importance. Some have placed the question 
of Trinity and Unity first of all, and reckoned the 
moral character and purposes of God a matter of minor 
importance. They can discuss from week to week, 
and from year to year, the question whether God 
exists in one person, or in three persons, or in three 
natures, or something of the kind united in one, — -but 
if you invite their attention to the question of the 
moral character of God, his disposition towards his 
children, and the design and final results of his gov- 
ernment over them, they are soon impatient, — it is a 
matter to them of smaller moment. 

But to my mind and feelings the matter of greatest 
concern is the grand gospel theme, the wisdom, and 
love, and grace, and salvation of God. If I believed 
that the creation and government of God shall result 
in a boundless scene of wretchedness to his moral 
creatures, it would be of little consolation to me to de- 
termine whether there were three persons, or one, in 
the Godhead which had planned and prosecuted the 
system so fraught with disaster and ruin. It would 
seem an occasion of regret that creation was ever 
begun, and man called from nonentity, — equally so 
whether it were the work of a triune God, or of a 
single undivided person. 

Yet, as I have said, the question of Trinity and 
Unity is important in its place. It is important that 
men should have clear and rational conceptions of the 
unity, as well as wisdom and goodness, of the Being 
they worship. And the habit of bowing the mind to 
the reception of absurdities for truth, is hurtful to the 



200 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



mind, as to its activeness in the discrimination and 
enjoyment of truth. 

But I suppose that the real opinions of different 
Christians on this subject, are nearer aUke than their 
creeds and forms of profession. It has been my behef, 
ever since I have thought upon this subject, that all 
Christians are, in reality, unitarian on this point of 
doctrine. I do not mean that those of the opposite 
sects are hypocritical in their profession. They assent 
to the doctrine of the Trinity, not pretending to 
understand how it can be so, but supposing that so the 
Scriptures teach, and that so it must be. They do 
not mean to deceive, but they are themselves con- 
fused. There is a sentiment in their souls which these 
contrary professions can never obliterate. They may 
assent to the Catholic profession of faith, ''The Fa- 
ther by himself is God, the Son by himself is God, and 
the Holy Ghost by himself is God ; — yet there are not 
three Gods, but one God;"- — they may assent to this, I 
say, supposing it must be so. But they can never 
take into their understandings, and carry in their 
hearts, so absurd a proposition. I repeat here, I would 
not have it understood that we are never to believe 
what is mysterious. There may be a proposition that 
is consistent, and established by abundant evidence as 
true, which we may understandingly believe, though 
we do not comprehend every circumstance about it. 
We cannot comprehend the being of God. But the 
truth that there is a God, the great first Cause, of infi- 
nite wisdom and power, is reasonable, consistent, and 
abundantly evident. But to say there are three distinct 
persons, each of whom is by himself God, and yet that 
there are not three Gods, but one God, is stating what 
is not so much of a mystery, but that we see it to be 



CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 



201 



absurd, in so much that we cannot understandingly 
and practically believe it. 

Therefore I conclude, as I said before, that all Chris- 
tians are unitarian in their practical sentiments and 
feelings on this point of doctrine. When they think 
of God, they think of him as the eternal, self-existent, 
all-pervading Spirit, the first Cause, the sole Creator, 
and supreme Governor of all things. When they 
think of Jesus Christ, they think of him as a being 
having an existence separate from God, which he de- 
rived from God as his Son, — and being commissioned 
and sent from God, to act as his servant in the prose- 
cution of an important enterprise. When they pray 
God to send his holy spirit into their hearts, they con- 
ceive of this divine spirit as the energy of God, the 
spiritual influence upon their hearts of his presence 
and power. And the rest of the Trinity is in name 
only, in subtle disputation. 

But there is an interesting sentiment conveyed in 
the apostle's saying, that Christ is the brightness of 
the Father^ s glory ^ and the express image of his person. 
Or, as other translators have rendered it, ''he is a ray 
of his brightness, and an image of his perfections." A 
ray of his brightness. That is, Jesus Christ came 
unto mankind in the spirit, the disposition, the moral 
nature of God. In the expressions of his feelings and 
afiections through the glow of his heavenly counte- 
nance, through his words and through his benevolent 
acts, he brings to our sight, and to our feelings, the 
moral affections of God towards us, as the ray of 
light from the sun brings to our vision the form and 
glory of that luminous source of day. 

Did Jesus love the Avorld 7 Did he sympathize with 
the distressed and afilicted, lead sinners home to virtue 



202 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

and peace, and overcome evil with good 7 Did he man- 
ifest a deep interest for the well-being of mankind, an 
interest for them which no circumstance of theirs, not 
even their hatred to him, could diminish,— and which 
even death itself, inflicted by them without a cause, 
could not overcome? By dying for sinners, giving 
himself a ransom for all, tasting death for every man, 
did he thus prove the infallibility of his love, that it 
can never be forced to break its hold, that it is stronger 
than ail opposition, and will never cease to pursue the 
good of mankind ? In all these amiable moral traits 
of Jesus' character, we see the moral disposition of 
God, our Creator. Here we have the moral image of 
the Divine perfections, a ray of the Divine brightness. 
Think, ye ungrateful and sinful ;— think, ye unrecon- 
ciled and doubtful, — that He who made the world and 
all things in it, who upholds and governs the universe, 
at whose command are the storms and tempests, life 
and death, and time and eternity, — He is your friend. 
Look into the life, and the death, — into the kind affec- 
tions of Jesus, into that love of his which never faileth, 
and you see the image of God's love to you. Away 
with your doubts ; away with your ingratitude and 
your fears ; your Friend is almighty, the Almighty is 
your friend : — who, then, can inflict upon you ulti- 
mate harm? Give him your hearts, and be at peace. 
''We pray vou, in Christ's stead. Be ye reconciled to 
God/-' 

Again, Jesus Christ is the image of God, specially 
and singularly so, in another important sense. '^^ He 
is the pmcer of God and the icisdoni of God." ^ That 
is, God has imparted unto him of his own wisdom 
and power, to be possessed and used by him. not only 

^ 1 Cor. i. 24. 



CHRIST THE DIAGE OF GOD. 



203 



in a greater degree, but in a different manner, from 
what divine wisdom and power have been possessed 
and used by any other created being. 

This view of Christ as the Image of God, is the 
same as that which we touched upon in the preceding 
section, under the idea of his Sonship, We showed 
that he was the Son of God in a special sense, bearing 
pecuUar resemblances to the Father. Under this head, 
Christ the Laiage of Qod, we will pursue those pecu- 
liar and interesting resemblances farther. And in this 
enlargement upon the subject, I will repeat nothing 
said before, only insomuch as may be required for a 
good understanding of the whole. 

God, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake 
unto the fathers by the prophets. And by some of 
them he wrought miracles. But he did not give them 
to possess any different kind of faculties, or difierent 
kind of powers, to be their own, than was possessed 
by others. When Moses communicated to the people 
the revelations of God which he had received, it did 
not imply any superior wisdom or higher mental fac- 
ulties of his own, — any more than your handing to one 
of your children a message for a neighbor, and his 
conveying it, implies superior wisdom, or different 
faculties in him, from the rest of your children. God 
sent his angel, and communicated verbally to Moses 
those things which he was to communicate to the peo- 
ple : and he placed upon record, and preached unto 
the people, those things which God spake unto him. 
And the prophets were taught in visions the things 
which they were to proclaim to the people. In some 
instances the angel of God in the vision would ex- 
plain "to them the meaning of the message which they 
were to carry to the people ; but generally they were 



204 COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

left; as others, to exercise their own natural judgment 
upon the meanmg of their message. They went unto 
the people with a thus saith the Lord," and commu- 
nicated what the Lord, speaking unto them in vision, 
had instructed them to say. But they said it not of 
any superior wisdom of their own. The prophet 
Daniel said to Xebuchadnezzar, But as for me, this 
secret is not revealed to me, for any wisdom that I 
have more -than any living. ^ The great God hath 
made known to the king what shall come to pass here- 
after/' And when miracles were wrought at the in- 
stance of Moses, it was not by the direct putting forth 
of power by Moses, pov/er which God had given him 
to be by him exerted at his pleasure. In these cases 
God accompanied the motions of Moses, at particular 
and previously specified times and occasions, with the 
execution of these wonderful works. Moses felt no 
consciousness that he possessed a power, which God 
had given him to be used at pleasure, to work mira- 
cles. He had to obtain several signs from the Lord, in 
order to satisfy himself that God would be with him 
to sustam him, in the encounters which he was di- 
rected to make with the authorities of Egypt. 

But Jesus wrought miracles by the exercise of 
power which he possessed as his own, to be used at 
pleasure. When I say that he possessed this power 
as his own, I do not mean that he was independent of 
God. He everywhere acknowledged his dependence 
upon God. as the source whence he derived all the 
powers he possessed. But this superhuman, this 
divine power of miracles, God gave to him to be his, 
as the natural powers which he has given us are ours. 
When we go about our ordinary work, though we are 
sensible that it is in God that we live, and move, and 



CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 



205 



have our being, yet we expect to perform our work by 
the use of powers which God has given us as a part 
of ourselves, to be used by us at pleasure. So Jesus 
had the power of miracles. It was his own by the 
gift of God, to be used whenever he should choose to 
use it, in the purposes of his gospel mission. He was 
not to use it for other purposes. When he was 
tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy his own 
hunger, he refused to do it, because it would not be 
consistent with the design for which he possessed this 
divine ability. For his own subsistence he was to be 
an example for others, relying on the ordinary provi- 
dence of God. His divine power was not to be used 
for purposes of his own temporal advantage. But in 
the work of his mission he had it for use whenever he 
wanted to employ it. This sentiment is expressed in 
the word which John testified of Jesus, saying, (John 
iii. 34,) '^For God giveth not the spirit by measure 
unto him." That is, as Farmer justly remarks, God 
gave him the spirit of power for universal and per- 
petual use, and not for a limited time and season. 

And so with regard to the wisdom of Christ, his 
knowledge of truth, and of things past, present, and 
to come, so far as it was requisite for the purposes of 
his high commission ; — this knowledge he possessed 
as a part of his own understanding. He knew the 
minds and thoughts of others. When his disciples 
had been disputing on the way to Capernaum, who 
should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he, 
though distant from them, knew their conversation. 
When he was at a distance beyond Jordan, he knew 
the time when Lazarus, of Bethany, expired. He 
had a mental discernment, unlike that of any other 
prophet, by which he could see these things. And 
18 



206 C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

when he foretold thmgs that should come to pass in 
the future, he described them, not as the prophets who 
related visions, but as perceiving them with his mind ; 
as looking into futurit\' by an mtuitive discernment. 
As far as God saw fit to give him knowledge, it was 
knowledge hke his own. a direct and immediate dis- 
cernment of things that were, and were to be. 

Xow in these respects, in respect to the kind, degree, 
and manner, of the power and wisdom of Christ, as 
well as in his moral character, he is in a special sense, 
in a sense unknown in any other man, the express 
image of God. 

The same view applies to Jesus in his capacity as 
the Life of the world. He says of himself, (John v. 
26.) 'Tor as the Father hath life in himself, so hath 
he given to the Son to have life in himself He 
has in himself the power of life, the power to commu- 
nicate life. He communicates moral life to the soul ; 
and the energies of his life, which roused the sleeping 
Lazarus from death, shall make the dead to live, until 
in him shall all be made alive. 

2. The second capacity in which Christ is pre- 
sented in the text, is that of his ruling authority, 
expressed by the words. Upholding all things by 
the word of his power'' Some render it -''governing 
all things by the word of his power.*' The phrase 
all things is variously limited to different classes of 
things, according to the different subjects to which it is 
applied. When Paul says to the Corinthians, Let all 
things be done to edifying,'* he means all the services 
of public worship. When he says, '"I can do all 
things through Christ that strengtheneth me,*' he 
means all things appertaining to the apostolic ofiice. 
And here, Christ's upholding or governing all things 



CHRIST THE IMAGE OP GOD. 



207 



by the word of his power, is his controlHng and direct- 
ing all incidents and concerns Avhich appertain to the 
work of his mission, as the Messiah, the Saviour and 
moral Ruler of the world. 

The sentiment is similar in the words preceding the 
text, God hath in these last days spoken unto us by 
his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things; 
by whom also he hath made the worlds.'' The 
word here rendered worlds is not kosmos^ which is 
used for the material world, and never occurs in the 
Scriptures in the plural number; but it is aionos^ the 
ages. God has given to Christ dominion, and glory, 
and a kingdom, that all nations, and kindreds and 
languages should serve him : and he has for him con- 
stituted the ages or periodical dispensations, which are 
requisite for the accomplishment of this purpose. And 
all things appertaining to this divinely glorious work, 
does Christ sustain and govern by the word of his 
power. 

3. The third particular in the text concerning 
Jesus is, that he by himself purged our sins." I shall 
not have space to dwell on this particular at present, 
farther than to remark, that it conveys allusion to the 
blood of sprinkling under the law, which, in a legal 
point of view, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. 
But the blood of Christ is represented as cleansing 
from sin. That is, the love of Christ, the cause of 
Christ, which was sealed and attested by his blood, 
cleanses from sin. Hence the apostle here speaks of 
his purging our sins when he spilt his blood for us on 
the cross, because he then sealed and confirmed that 
covenant of love, that system of grace, which shall 

take away the sin of the world." 

4. In the fourth place our text describes the final 



208 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



exaltation of Christ, by his sitting down on the right 
hand of the Majesty on high." ^'Who being the 
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his 
person, and upholding (or governing) all things by 
the word of his power, when he had by himself 
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the 
Majesty on high." 

This describes the divine authority and power in 
which God has set his Son, whom he ^^has raised 
from the dead, and made to be both Lord and Christ." 
In this authority he must reign, until all are subdued 
unto him, united to him in love.' And then, though 
he will be subject to him, who put all things under 
him, yet he will ever be, as he is constituted of God, 
the Head of every man, the Medium of communication 
between us and the Father, the local and visible per- 
sonification of God unto us. 

It is precious, it is interesting to the soul, to con- 
template Jesus in this high and exalted capacity; 
related to us as a brother, and thus coming nigh unto 
us in familiar intercourse, — and related to God also 
in a higher sense than v/e, being the brightness of his 
glory, and image of his person. We may expect to 
be able, in our immortal, spiritual existence, to per- 
ceive the Divine Being, and feel his presence, more 
clearly and sensibly than we do here; yet he is an 
all-pervading Spirit, filling immensity ; and his Christ 
will be unto us his visible habitation, his mouth of 
communication forever. 

The sun is a vast body, a million times larger than 
the earth, and ninety-six millions of miles from us. 
Yet there is a medium through which the rays of light 
from all parts of that great body are converged into 

» 1 Cor. XV. 24—28. 



CHRIST THE IMAGE OF GOD. 



209 



the narrow pupil of our eye. and we perceive its whole 
magnitude and its glories. So has God constituted 
Jesus the wonderful medium of his own light and 
glory. — so that we shall see, and know, and enjoy the 
Father in him, insomuch that there will seem, to use 
the language of our apostle, ''to dwell in him all the 
fulness of the Godhead bodily.*' 

If there are other planetary worlds of intelligent 
beings, we may reason from analogy that the one God 
and Father of all, has constituted for them, each race 
or Avorld of them, a Head, to be the medium of his 
presence and his communion with them, as he has con- 
stituted Christ for us. But this is not a matter of rev- 
elation. God's revelation to us relates to the interests 
of our own mortal, yet purposed to be iminortal vdice. 

In the light and spirit of this revelation we will live 
and rejoice. In our conscious weakness, we love to 
remember ^4hat we have a High Priest above," who 
"knows what is in man," and who knows how to 
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities:'' — that 
we have a Prince and Saviour in so high exaltation, 
who sees and knows the wants of our souls, — and 
who will ever be unto us. in wisdom, power and love, 
a Ray of the Father's brightness, and the Image of his 
perfections. 

18^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE MISSION OF CHRIST. ^ 
SEC TION I. 

Erroneous Views Examined. — Christ suffered not In- 
finite Wrath as a Substitute for Man. 

1. Before the introduction of the Messiah into the 
worldj it was appointed that his name should be called 
Jesus, which is, being interpreted, Saviour. This 
name was given him to denote the object of his mis- 
sion, the purpose of his coming, which is to redeem 
and save makind. To save them from what 7 This 
is an important inquiry, and the consideration of it is 
rendered doubly important, if possible, on account of 
the misunderstanding of it which has obtained, and 
has dishonored the gospel. 

It is the common sentiment on this question, that 
the grand object of Jesus' mission is to save mankind 
from suffering a penalty or punishment which they 
have incurred by breaking the law of God. This 
penalty is said to be endless death or misery. It has 
been customary for pious clergymen to assert that 
they themselves deserve endless misery for their very 
best performances. Accordingly, if they should re- 
ceive that punishment which strict justice requires, 
eternal woe must be their doom. 

The following is the sentiment of Dr. Watts on the 
penalty of the broken law : — 

Far in the deep, where darkness dwells, 
The land of horror and despair. 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



211 



Justice has built a dismal hell. 
And laid her stores of vengeance there. 

Eternal plagues and heavy chains, 

Tormenting racks and fiery coals, 
And darts t' inflict immortal painSj 

Dipped in the blood of damned souls." 

In speaking of the execution of this penalty, the 
same learned divine uses the following language :— 

" His nostrils breathe out fiery streams, 
And from his awful tongue, 
A sovereign voice divides the flame, 
And thunders roll along. 

" Tempests of angry fire shall roll 
To blast the rebel worm, 
And beat upon his naked soul 
In an eternal storm." 

The assembly of Westminster divines have declared 
the punishment which mankind incur by sin to be 
^'All the pains and miseries of this life, death itself, 
and the pains of hell forever." 

But it is not the pains and miseries of this life, and 
death itself, which Jesus came to save men from suf- 
fering, but the pains of hell forever ; or as Watts calls 
it, iinmortal pains ^ an eternal storm of angry fire heat- 
ing upon the naked soul This is the punishment 
which Jesus undertook to save men from suffering. 
How does he save them from it ? By keeping them 
from deserving it, or from exposing themselves to it? 
No ; for they have deserved it already, and justice re- 
quires that they shall suffer it. So the work of Jesus 
is to save men from a punishment which they all justly 
deserve. 

How, or by what means, is this to be effected? 
Answer. By Christ's suffering this punishment as 
man's vicar or substitute. This is the only ground on 



212 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



which those who are commonly called orthodox pro- 
fess to hope. The law is just and good, and it must 
be magnified and made honorable. But since man has 
broken and dishonored the law, in order that it may- 
triumph over this dishonor which man has cast upon 
itj its dreadful sanction must be siiffei^ed ; and it must 
be suffered by man, the transgressor, unless some sub- 
stitute suffer it in his stead. Accordingly, they cannot 
hope to escape from suffering the whole penalty of the 
law, only on the ground that Christ has suffered it in 
their stead. On the ground that Christ has suffered what 
in their stead? Not the pains and miseries of this life, 
and death itself: for these they expect to suffer them- 
selves. And besides, these compose no part of the real 
penalty of the law. Or, at most, they are only a kind 
of foretaste of it, or a few" trifling sparks of that fire, 
the full and infinite blaze of which is reserved for the 
future state. No ; according to the sentiment we are 
now considering, it is not the pains and miseries of 
this life, and death itself,'' but ''the pains of hell for- 
ever,'' immortal pains ^'^ that Christ must suffer, in 
order to afford us any ground to hope for salvation. 
Tempests of angry fire must heat upon his naked soul^ 
in an eternal storm ! ! Shocking thought ! Is such the 
fate of him of whom the angel said, Thou shalt call 
his name Jesus?" Can the Saviour of men never see 
peace ? Must he forever dwell far in the deep where 
darkness reigns," there to suffer immortal pains ?" 

If these be the *' storms of vengeance" which justice 
has laid up for sinners, and Christ suffer as their sub- 
stitute, such must truly be his suffering. But the 
subject has become too painful. The thought strikes 
us with a cold chill of horror. It appears there must 
be something wrong in the doctrine before us. At any 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



213 



rate, it fills us with painful anxiety, and we fly to 
the testimony for relief. 

Is there anything in the testimony to prove that 
Jesus is suffering immortal pains ? No, there certainly 
is not. Nor is there the least proof that Jesus has suf- 
fered, or ever will suffer, any pains, beyond the pains 
and miseries of this life, and death itself." 

But we are not left merely to argue that there is no 
proof that Christ suffers immortal pains in a land of 
darkness and despair ; for there is positive evidence on 
the other side, that it is not so. There is proof that 
Jesus has ascended to heaven, and is seated in glory 
at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Where, then, is our hope ? If we can hope for sal- 
vation only on the ground that Jesus suffers a punish- 
ment of ^' immortal pains" in our stead, where then is 
our hope? It has vanished; ^'and, like the baseless 
fabric of a vision, leaves not a wreck behind." 

But here it has been argued that Jesus Christ is the 
very God. And the infinite God could endure as great 
a quantity of misery in a short time as the whole world 
could suffer to all eternity. So on this ground man 
may be cleared from the fore-mentioned punishment, 
because God himself, when he died on the cross, suf- 
fered as much in quantity, though short in duration. 

Is this, then, the foundation of the Christian hope ? 
the idea that the eternal Jehovah, the Creator and 
Governor of the immense universe, he whom the hea- 
ven of heavens cannot contain, in whom we live, move, 
and have our being, was actually nailed to a tree by 
the hands of men, and there suffered and died ! The 
thought is shocking ; it is even blasphemous. It is repug- 
nant to reason, and no less repugnant to divine reve- 
lation. 



214 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



No ; it is repliedj Christ did not suffer as God ; but 
it was only as man that he suffered. Though Christ 
is God and man. m^'steriously united, yet it was not 
the infinite, but the finite, the human part, that suf- 
fered and died. Now the pretended ground of hope 
has again vanished. Forasmuch as it is and ??u/st be 
admitted, that it was only as man that Christ suf- 
fered and died, this last attempt to make his suflerings 
amount to as much as the endless misery of the whole 
human family, is mere nothing. The fact is, if we 
have no hope for salvation, only on the position that 
Christ has suftered. or is to suffer, immortal pains in 
our stead, we have no ground to hope all. We may 
sit down in darkness and utter despair. 

Again, this system of the vicarious sufferings of 
Christ is a reflection on the character of God, and de- 
tracts too much from the excellency and glory of his 
plan of salvation. For it supposes that he saves us 
from deserved punishment, by punishing an innocent 
person in our stead. And this is directly against the 
law of God, as well as against all human ideas of jus- 
tice. Suppose a criminal, under sentence of death, is 
committed to the disposal of the President of the United 
States. The President wishes to spare the guilty per- 
son, but cannot feel satisfied to spare him, unless he 
puts the full amount of punishment on somebody else. 
So he turns and executes an innocent person and clears 
the guilty. The very report of such a procedure would 
strike the citizens of these United States with horror. 
To say that the innocent person offered himself as a 
substitute, would not justify the acceptance of such an 
offer by the civil magistrate. It would still be directly 
against the spirit of our wholesome laws. And these 
human laws, which forbid the innocent being punished 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



215 



instead of the guilty, are founded on the law of 
God. 

It seems to us a censurable species of irreverence, to 
hold up that system for the gospel purpose of God, 
which represents the Divine Lawgiver as violating 
the principles of his own law. For he has expressly 
declared that one shall not be punished for another's 
sins, but every man shall die for his own sins. The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die.'' And Jesus said to the 
Pharisees, '^If ye had known what this meaneth, I 
will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have 
condemned the guiltless.'' Yet the systems of men 
represent the infinitely just, wise and merciful Father 
of us all, as practising on this principle Avhich the 
Scriptures condemn, punishing the innocent in order 
to clear the guilty. 

II. Before we spend longer time in examining the 
schemes which men have devised for saving them- 
selves from suffering an incurred penalty of endless 
punishment, it may be well to search the Book of the 
Law, to see if there be any such penalty there. The 
first pair had a law given them, and death was threat- 
ened as the punishment of disobedience. But this 
death was comprised in the miseries which v/ere to be 
endured in this life. This we learn from the judg- 
ment which was given upon the first case of trans- 
gression. When the man and woman transgressed, 
they were called to trial, convicted of sin, and sen- 
tenced according to the law which was given them. 
What was the sentence? The Judge, when he pro- 
nounced the sentence, told them that because they had 
transgressed, they should suffer certain miseries till 
they should retiirii to the dust. 

The second trial which is recorded, was upon a 



216 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



very noted offence, Cain's murder of his innocent bro- 
ther. The Judge, who is the great Creator and Law- 
giver himself, delivered the sentence thus. "The 
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the 
ground. And now art thou cursed from the earthy 
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground 
it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; a 
fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." 
These matters were duly considered in chapters lY. 
and V. 

We have also examined the law given by Moses, 
There we find some threatenings of very severe punish- 
ment, but nothing like that from which it has been im- 
agined that Jesus came to save mankind. The most 
severe threatenings which we find in all the law of Moses, 
are recorded in the 26th of Leviticus. There greater 
and greater punishments are threatened in case of con- 
tinued transgression, till it comes to this. "And if 
3^e will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk 
contrary unto me, Then I will walk contrary unto you 
also in fury ; and I, even I, will chastise you seven 
times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of 
your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye 
eat. And I will make your cities waste, and bring 
your sanctuaries unto desolation. ^ ^ And I will 
scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a 
sword after you ; and your land shall be desolate, and 
your cities waste. ^ ^ And upon them that are left 
alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts 
in the lands of their enemies: and ye shall perish 
among the heathen, and the land of your enemies 
shall eat you up." 

Though there were proportional punishments to be 
inflicted upon all sins, yet this dreadful penalty which 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



217 



we have now read, was not to be incurred by any or 
the least offence. They were not told that they had 
already deserved it, and the Messiah was appointed 
to screen them from it. It would only be incurred by 
the continued practice of iniquity, after a long series 
of lesser chastisements had proved ineffectual to re- 
claim them. 

But how is it with regard to these reasonable and 
just punishments which the law does denounce upon 
sinners? Did the ^'just" Saviour suffer for the un- 
just," to save them from those punishments when they 
have been incurred? No, we have not yet found 
the least intimation in the Scriptures, that after men 
have continued their transgressions to the degree upon 
which certain punishment has been threatened, they 
shall then be saved from the deserved and threatened 
punishment. 

The children of Israel continued to transgress till 
they incurred the foregoing penalty, and then they 
suffered it. These threatenings, pronounced nearly 
2000 years before, were then fully executed. And 
though Jesus had then been on the earth, we do not 
find that it was any part of his labors to devise a 
scheme to save this people from said punishment when 
they had incurred it. 

To be sure Jesus called on this people to repent, and 
turn from their iniquities, that they might avoid that 
dreadful judgment. But this was not calling on them 
to escape that judgment after they should have fully 
deserved it, but it was calling on them to avoid incur- 
ring it. They had not then filled up that measure of 
iniquity upon which such punishment was predicated. 

But when Jesus had called upon them to no effect, 
seeing their hardness of heart and blindness of mind, 
19 



218 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and knowing also Avhat their prophets had long foretold, 
he said unto them, ^^Fill ye up therefore the measure 
of your fathers ; * ^ that upon you may come all the 
righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood 
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of 
BarachiaSj whom ye slew between the temple and the 
altar. Verily, I say unto you, all these things shall 
come upon this generation.'^ 

From this it appears their measure of iniquity was 
not then full. That is, they had not fully incurred 
all this punishment. So when Jesus called on them 
to turn from their iniquities, that they might escape 
this dreadful punishment, it was not counselhng with 
them how they might escape it after they had fully 
incurred it ; but it was calling on them to avoid incur- 
ring it, to avoid filling up that measure of iniquity 
upon which said punishment was predicated. 

Indeed, so far is it from the truth that Jesus under- 
took to screen men from their just deserts, or to pur- 
chase impunity for them, that he testifies of himself that 
the Father had committed judgment to him ; ^ and that 
he, in his kingdom, will render to every man accord- 
ing to his deeds.^ And St. Paul assures us, in the 
most positive form of testimony, that of an interroga- 
tory assertion, that as, under the law given by the 
disposition of angels, every transgression and disobedi- 
ence received a just recompense of reward, roe cannot 
escape, if we sin against the principles of the gospel.' 

We have now examined the common sentiment on 
the questions. From what has Jesus iindeiHaken to 
save sinners 1 and how? The common sentiment is, 
that he saves sinners from suffering an incurred pen- 
alty of the law, which is endless death or misery. 

j John V. 27. ^ Matt. xvi. 27 ; Rom. ii, 6—16. i Heb. ii. 2. 3. 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



219 



And the ground of the sinner's hope for salvation has 
been the supposition that Christ has suffered the pen- 
ahy in our stead. But. on examination, this hope 
vanisheth away. For it is found that Christ has 
never suffered any such penalty. It is also seen that 
this sentiment dishonors the Judge of heaven and 
earth : for it would have us build all our hopes of good 
on the supposition that he punishes the innocent 
instead of the guilty ; and this is contrary to the laws 
both of God and man. The word of God forbids that 
we should ever expect that he will clear us from our 
deserts by punishing an innocent person in our stead. 

Being wearied with the absurdities and shocking 
aspects of the doctrine, which many of our esteemed 
fellow-Christians hold up in theory, we determined to 
appeal "to the Law and the Testimony.'' But we 
have found no such penalty there as had been asserted. 
Therefore there is no need of our seeking any longer 
after ground to hope for salvation from a deserved 
endless punishment ; because the law requires no such 
punishment. 

But we have seen that the law does threaten pun- 
ishment, proper punishment, upon transgressors. We 
have also inquired whether it is the object of Jesus' mis- 
sion to save men, (not from the imaginary punishment 
which learned creeds have threatened, but) from the 
real punishment threatened by the law : that is, 
whether it is the business of Jesus to save us from 
suffering the threatenings of the law after we have 
incurred them. And we find that it is not. We have 
no ground to believe that we can commit sin with im- 
punity. If we go on in sin, we must suffer the misera- 
ble consequences. The wages of sin is death;" and 
^^The soul that sinneth, it shall die." ^'In his sin 



220 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



that he hath sinned, and in his trespass that he hath 
trespassed, he shall die." So saith the law: and Jesus 
himself has never offered anything in opposition to it. 
He has never engaged to prevent men's suffering 
death as long as the law requires, which is as long as 
they are sinners. 

SECTION II. 

Salvation from, Sin, 

Let us now renew the inquiry ; — What is the salva- 
tion to be effected by the mission of Christ '? We find 
an answer to this question by reading the latter 
clause of the verse which commands the name Jesus, 
or Saviour, to be given him, Thou shalt call his 
name Jesus ; /or he shall save his people from their 
sins.^^"^ This is the object of Jesus' mission, to ^' save 
his people from their sins." The same sentiment is 
expressed by the saying, He suffered, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us to God.""" 

But what is the difference, it will be asked, between 
saving people from their sins, and saving them from de- 
served punishment. The difference is easily shown. Let 
us take for instance the case of the Israelites, referred 
to in the preceding section. They were threatened 
with different degrees of punishment upon different 
degrees of sin, till it came to the last and most severe ; 
viz., ^^If ye will not after all this hearken unto me, I 
will punish you yet seven times for your sins. The 
flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters ye 
shall eat," &c. Now there had been lesser punish- 
ments threatened upon lesser and preceding sins. 
Therefore, when they had sinned to the degree men- 



n^Matt. i. 21. 



Peter iii. 18. 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



221 



tioned next below this lastj and had suflfered the pun- 
ishment threatened upon such sin, they did not de- 
serve the last mentioned punishment, till they had 
sinned to the last mentioned degree. 

Now when they had sinned to the last mentioned 
degree, to have screened them from the threatened 
punishment would have been against the law, and 
proved the threatenings of Jehovah to be null and 
void. But to have saved thetn from sin ; that is, to 
have saved them from committing that last mentioned 
degree of sin, would have saved them from the pun- 
ishment, not by screening them from it after they had 
incurred it, but by keeping them from deserving it. 
And this, of course, would not have been saving them 
from any incurred punishment; it would have been 
against no law; nor would it have made false any 
threatening of God. 

But here the reader will naturally, and very prop- 
erly too, push his inquiry, If Jesus did not suffer as 
a substitute for men, to save them from deserved pun- 
ishment, how shall we understand the language before 
quoted from Peter, — ''For Christ also hath once suf- 
fered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
bring us to God And what then is the meaning of 
other Scriptures like these? — ''But he was wounded 
for our transgressions ; he was bruised for our iniqui- 
ties ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; 
and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his 
own way ; but the Lord hath laid on him the iniqui- 
ties of us all." " He hath borne our sins in his own 
body on the tree." How hath he "borne our sins," 
and " suffered for us," unless he has suffered in our 

stead the punishment of our sins ? 
19# 



222 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



I answer, in any sense in which Jesus has suffered 
to redeem us from sin, and bring us to God, he has 
suffered for us, and has borne our sins. A shepherd 
has a flock of sheep astray in the wilderness, and un- 
dertakes to redeem them out of their lost estate, into 
his fold. But in doing this he has to endure many 
labors and hardships. Now in these labors and hard- 
ships he suffers for his flock. He bears their wander- 
ings; not by taking on himself in their stead all the 
consequences of their wanderings ; they themselves 
must bear all the necessary consequences of their 
rambling. It is the shepherd's work to save them 
from their wanderings, or from their lost estate ; and 
thus he saves them from farther harm, only by bring- 
ing them out of that condition which occasioned their 
sufferings. And he suflers for them, and bears their 
wanderings, not by becoming their substitute, but by 
taking upon himself those labors and troubles, which 
fall in his way as he perseveres in the work of their 
redemption. 

Let our simile now be applied. All we like sheep 
have gone astray. We have been wandering in the 
wilderness of sin. Jesus, as a kind shepherd, has 
undertaken to redeem us out of the wilderness of sin 
and misery, and bring us into the fold of righteousness 
and peace. In carrying on this work, he had to pass 
through scenes of suffering, and even a painful and 
ignominious death. In these labors and sufferings, he 
suffered for us, he bore our sins. But, like the sheep 
in the wilderness, we ourselves must suffer all the just 
and necessary consequences of our wanderhigs ; for he 
saves us from misery only by bringing us out of that 
state and condition which occasions it. And Jesus 
bore our sins, not by suffering, as our substitute, our 



THE MISSION OF CHRIST. 



223 



deserved punishment, but by enduring all the labors 
and troubles Avhich came in his way, as he pursued 
the gracious work of saving us from sin, or from 
deserving punishment. To this sentiment apply the 
Scriptures just quoted. ^'By his stripes we are 
healed;" — that is, healed of sin. ^'Christ hath once 
suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
us to God." 

Washington suffered for this country ; he bore the 
troubles and misfortunes of the people ; and if he had 
died in battle at the hands of the enemy, while con- 
tending for his country's redemption, he would have 
died for the people. But when Major Andre, or some 
other criminal, had been sentenced by the law to be 
hanged, if our Congress had accepted and executed 
Washington as a substitute, it would have been a 
different case, utterly different in principle. If such 
an event had taken place, it would have cast a blot 
on the pages of American history ; and whenever we 
read it, we should have been ashamed of the folly and 
injustice of our government. Now the same difference 
is apparent between the sense in which Christ died for 
us according to the Scriptures, and that which men 
have asserted, as there would have been between 
Washington's meeting death in his course, while la- 
boring for the redemption of his people, and his being 
executed by his own government as a substitute for 
Andre. 

But there is a key to this subject in the 8th of 
Matthew. ^- When the even was come, they brought 
unto him many that were possessed with devils ; and 
he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all 
that were sick : that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying. Himself took 



224 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." How was 
this saying fulfilled, ''Himself took our infirmities, 
and bare our sicknesses ?" Was it by Jesus' becoming 
sick in their stead ] When he found one sick of a 
fever, did he take the fever from that person on him- 
self, and so become sick of a fever in his stead? 
When he found people blind and dumb, did he be- 
come blind and dumb in their stead ? Is this the way 
that Christ fulfilled the saying, "Himself took our 
infirmities, and bare our sicknesses No ; the text 
informs us, '' He healed all that were sick : that the 
saying might be fulfilled, He bare our sicknesses.'' 

This, I say, will serve as a key to our subject. If 
ever we come to doubt how the saying is fulfilled, 
" He bare our sins," let us then inquire, how was the 
saying fulfilled, " He bare our sicknesses ?" And when 
we see that this saying was fulfilled by his healing 
their sicknesses, then we may understand that the say- 
ing " He bare our sins," or spiritual sicknesses, is ful- 
filled by his healing them. " He shall save his people 
from their sins." 

OBJECTION. 
Perhaps the question ought here to be considered, 
which has, by a certain description of persons, been 
thought of considerable weight, viz., If the law itself 
do not require an endless punishment ; if man himself 
may sufi'er the punishment of his own sins, and not 
be endlessly miserable, of what use is a Saviour 
at all ? 

To prepare the way for a simple answer to this 
question, let us propose another. If the sick man may 
sufi'er the pain of his own disease, what need has he 
of a physician 7 or what need has he of being healed ? 
Your answer is, if his disease produces pain, a7id he 



MISSION OF CHRIST. 



225 



must suffer it himself^ he has the greater need of a 
physician. For in this case, the longer the disorder 
remains, the longer the distress continues; and it is 
necessary that the disease should be removedj that its 
painful consequences may cease. 

Here you will observe, that the person who has 
been healed of some disorder, has suffered all the pain 
which the law of our physical nature requires. This 
law does not require that one shall suffer the pain 
of a disease, after the disease is removed, and he is 
restored to health. It only requires that he shall 
suffer the pain as long as the disease continues. 

So with the moral law. It only requires that a 
person shall suffer the pain of his m^oral disease as 
long as he continues in it. If a man commit iniquity, 
saith Ezekiel, ^^In his sin that he hath sinned he shall 
die." ''There is no peace to the wicked.'' ''God 
will render to every man according to his work» 
Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man 
that doeth evil." This the sinner must suffer him- 
self ; for it is the word of God who cannot lie. 
Therefore a Saviour is absolutely necessary, to save 
the sinner from sin. For as long as he continues 
in sin, this threatened death, or tribulation and 
anguish, will abide upon him. Hence, if men were 
to continue in sin to all eternity, they v/ould be 
eternally miserable. For moral misery is coeval with 
the moral disease. 

We can now discover that the work of salvation 
by Christ is very beautifully represented by the heal- 
ing of the sick. For by this representation, we learn 
that he saves us from moral woe, by removing the 
cause, and restoring us to a state of spiritual health, 
which is holiness. "Christ loved the church, and 



226 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
it with the washing of water by the word ; and that 
he might present it to himself a glorious church, not 
having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but 
that it should be holy and without blemish. "° 

RECAPITULATION. 

We are now prepared to give short and direct 
answers to these several inquiries. 

1st. Who are the unjust, for whom the just Saviour 
suffei^ed 7 Answer : They are mankind as a race of 
beings. All we like sheep have gone astray, (have 
become unjust,) and the Lord hath laid on him the 
iniquities of us all." (Isa. liii. 6.) ^^He, by the grace 
of God, tasted death for every man." (Heb. ii. 9.) 

2d. In what sense are we to understand that Christ 
suffered for the unjust ? Has he suffered the punish- 
ment ivhich the unjust deserved, or for the sins of the 
unjust? Answer: Christ was not punished instead 
of the unjust, which we have seen to be contrary to 
the Scriptures, and to involve a principle contrary to 
all revealed justice. But he has suffered for, or on 
account of, the sins of the unjust ; because it was in 
the prosecution of a work for their salvation from sin 
and its evils, that he suffered and died* He ^'bare 
our sins," in the same sense in which he fulfilled the 
saying, ''he bare our sicknesses," viz., by sympathy, 
— and by taking on himself the charge of the case^ 
and the application of the cure. 

3d. If Christ has si ffered for the sins of the unjust^ 
are the unjust to suffer for their own si?is ? Answer : 
Yes; because he did not suffer, as a substitute, the 
punishment of their sins ; but he suffered as the ser- 

0 Eph. V. 26. 



MISSION OF CHRIST. 



227 



vant of God and friend of man, and attested by his 
own blood the verity of that love Divine which shall 
overcome all evil with good, and bring us, as dear 
children, to our Father, God. 

4th. If men do not suffer for their oion sins, how 
does every one'''' receive according to his tvorks, whether 
good or bad ? Answer : Men do and shall suffer for 
their own sins. To deny this is to contradict the gen- 
eral train of Scripture testimony on this subject. As 
the strayed sheep in the wilderness, which the shep- 
herd seeks to restore, must suffer the evils of their 
own wanderings, — and the shepherd bears their wan- 
derings only by sympathy, and in the labors and 
sufferings of restoring them, — and he saves them from 
continued sufferings only by bringing them out of the 
condition which caused them to suffer ; — so must we 
suffer the miseries of our sins while we will continue 
to be sinners, — and Jesus saves us from continued 
sufferings only by bringing us out of the condition 
which occasions our miseries, viz., sin. ^^He suffered, 
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to 
Godr 

The reader will perceive, by duly considering the 
expositions which we have offered on the subject of 
the foregoing inquiries, that we are the only denomi- 
nation of Christians who believe and maintain the doc- 
trine so abundantly taught in the Scriptures, viz., that 
^4he Lord searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, 
even to give every man according to his ways, and 
according to the fruit of his doings." All other doc- 
trines make the whole multitude of those who 
shall be saved in heaven, be they more or less, to be 
exceptions to the truth of these Scriptural teachings. 
Consequently, whenever they have aught to say of a 



228 



COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



sect of religionists who deny the threatenings of the 
Bible, we may promptly and justly reply mito them, 
Thou art the sect. 

SECTION III. 

The General Purpose of the Saviour^s Mission. 

In viewing Jehovah's purpose through the mission 
of his Son. we discover his grand design in the crea- 
tion of our race. For in this we see the purposed 
inheritance of man, his ultimate allotment. Surely, 
then, there is no subject that can engage the attention 
of man, which is so important as this. It would be 
with an earnest solicitude that men w^ould search the 
revelations of some political economy, w^hich should 
promise an increase of national wealth. With what 
devout faithfulness, then, should we search the record 
of the infinite Father's Vvill and purpose, involving the 
interest of our immortal being. 

There is no place for cavil here — nor for fear, other 
than reverential fear. True, we are not now advanc- 
ing upon a subject which relates to the reward of our 
doings. It is upon an inheritance which is not ac- 
cording to our works, but according to the purpose 
and grace of God, which was given us in Christ Jesus 
before the world began.'' ^ But we should not for this 
reason start back, shut our eyes, and refuse to look, 
lest we should see revelations of grace so glorious as 
to paralyze our moral efforts. From the mere fact 
that a subject does not relate to the payment of our 
earnings, it does not follow that it is demoralizing to 
consider it. "While we are assured that, though hand 
join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished,'' i 



P2 Tim. i. 9, 



iPro. xi. 21. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's BIISSION. 



229 



and that for all the good we do we shall receive pay- 
ment in full, even for the smallest deed of virtue/ 
we cannot be harmed by discovering other good, 
which is beyond our merits. Are you afraid to open 
your eyes to the wonderful revelations of science, lest 
you should behold so much of the wisdom and majesty 
and glory of God, which are not according to your 
works, as to afflict you with moral indifference ] 
Never ! These advancing discoveries of the Crea- 
tor's adorable perfections, as displayed in his works, 
rather elevate your moral affections^ and promote 
their active vigor. So will '^the light of knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,*' inspire 
increasing admiration and love for the Divine perfec- 
tions, and add a zest to the pleasures of obedience. I 
say then to the reader, in the language of Gabriel to 
the shepherds, ^'Fear not'' — to open your eyes and 
your ears to the revelations of Jesus Christ. 

But there is a point presenting itself here, which I 
wish to settle with the reader in the outset. An un- 
derstanding of it is essential to our pursuing with profit 
the subject before us. It relates to the reality and 
consistency of any such fad^ as an efficient purpose 
and government of God in the moral creation. In the 
views taken in the first two chapters of this work, 
evincing the wisdom and power of God in the arrange- 
ments, designs, and government of the physical world, 
all will go with us. When they look into the arrange- 
ment, adaptedness, and harmony, — 

the bearings and the ties. — 

The strong connexions, nice dependencies," 

of this outvvard system,— they will all shout the praise 

^Matt. X. 42. 

20 



230 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and glory of God, in view of his perfect plan and 
government in it. 

But what is the physical universe ? Of itself, alone, 
it is worth nothing. All this vast material creation, 
without a sentient creature to inhabit it, would be as 
useless as boundless void. The prophet says of God's 
creation of the world, He created it not in vain ; he 
made it to be inhabited." And though it is made to 
be the habitation of a great variety of animals, it is 
chiefly designed for MAN, as an mtellectual and moral 
being. 

It must have been for a noble purpose that God con- 
stituted mankind with such faculties : — and in his 
revealed word, and in his creation and providence, we 
see the proofs of his corresponding care and regard for 
us. The very ordinances of heaven are ordained for 
our benefit. This vast and stupendous outward crea- 
tion, with its wonderful order and grandeur and 
utility, was not a sport of ingenuity and power. It 
was designed as a means to occupy the mind of man, 
and develope gradually to his understanding the 
wisdom, and power, and goodness of Jehovah,— thus 
contributing both to the physical support and the 
mental enjoyment of his children. What a depth of 
wisdom — what a vast profundity of wonderfully 
contrived sources of human convenience and enjoy- 
ment, is there provided in God's creation, into which 
the human mind is gradually making discoveries, — 
and which must forever have been useless, were it not 
for such creatures as man, with capacities to seek out 
and adapt their uses. Indeed, the whole visible crea- 
tion, with all its wonders and utilities and glories, 
seems chiefly designed for us. Strike out of being the 
intellectual creation, the universe of created minds ^ 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR'S MISSION, 



231 



and the chief adaptedness and glory of the material 
creation are lost. 

What an affecting discovery do we here make of 
the importance of man in God's creation, and of the 
Divine regard for him. The vast material universe is 
specially provided for him. and is comparatively use- 
less without him ! Methmks I see the minds of my 
readers rising in the majesty of the subject, and con- 
scious of the elevation of their rank, as creatures 
receiving so great and special attention from the Eter- 
nal, pressing the inquiry, with a pious earnestness to 
know, and to improve by it, — What is the purpose 
of God in this crowning work of his creation V 

It is to this subject that we are to look for the chief 
manifestation of the Divine perfections. Yet it is here, 
mainly, that the creeds of men have dishonored and 
exploded the wisdom and power of God. They look 
into the physical system, and shout praises to the per- 
fection of God's purpose and government in it; — but 
coming to the intellectual and moral creation, they 
hardly dare look whether there is a purpose and gov- 
ernment there, evincing the wisdom and power of 
God, or not. It is as if you were sitting in judgment 
on the character of a father, and formed your decision 
by the splendor of his house, utterly regardless of his 
conduct towards his family. 

Did I say that men hardly dare look into the moral 
system, whether there is a perfect plan and govern- 
ment there or not? Nay, in treating of this most im- 
portant department of God's creation, they ascribe to 
him malevolence, and weakness, and folly. They 
assert that countless millions of God's immortal family 
will be doomed to employ their minds, and all their 
faculties as thinking, moral, feeling beings, in cursing 



232 



C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



God, cursing their own existence, and in demonstra- 
tions and bowlings of boundless torment. And how 
should this appalling catastrophe be the end of God's 
moral creation and government? It used, when there 
was more liardihood in theologians than there is now, 
to be assumed that this Avas pursuant to the original pur- 
pose of the Creator. John Calvin says, in his Book of 
Institutes, ''All men are not created to the like estate, 
but to some eternal life, and to others eternal damna- 
tion, was fore-appointed.'* 

But it is so obvious to common sense that this view 
denies to God that ^Wsdom which works always to 
a good end, and ascribes to him a purpose which none 
other than a spirit of mfinite malignity could devise 
and prosecute, that there is scarcely a man now who 
will ascribe to God such an original purpose. Yet, the 
creeds of many still embrace the same dreadful result. 
And why shall it so eventuate? They say the origi- 
nal intentions of God were good and benevolent. The 
creation of man was a motion of the Divine benevo- 
lence, with the design to produce and rear up a great 
family of children to share with him in eternal felicity. 
Why, then, shall the result be so painfully different, 
presenting, instead of the intended scene of moral 
beauty and blessedness, a boundless scene of moral 
wretchedness and ruin ? Of course so many unex- 
pected events must have taken place, and things in 
their operation must have had so different a bearing 
upon one another from what was intended, that the 
Deity is painfully disappointed, and irretrievably 
failed, in the end ! There is a failure of the Divine 
plan ! 

This view obviously ascribes imperfection to God, in 
respect to his knowledge, his wisdom, and his power. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 233 

If unexpected events occurred to defeat the original 
plan of the Deity, he was of course ignorant of those 
contingent events. Infinite knowledge, or prescience, 
cannot be disappointed. To say that God foreknew 
the resultj and yet adopted and pursued the abortive 
plan, is to deny his wisdom ; for nothing but con- 
summate folly will engage in a purpose it knows wiL. 
fail. And in either case the power of God is limited ; 
for he is represented to be unable to accomplish his 
own purpose, in the most important department of his 
creation and government. 

But there is a late specious method of evading 
these irreverent conclusions, which result from the 
passing theology of the day. It is to say that God 
does not fail in his purpose, although his children, 
few, many, or all, should be the subjects of final 
wretchedness ; — for that his purpose was that mankind 
should be finally happy or miserable, just as they 
should make themselves, under the various and coun- 
ter influences in the midst of which he would place 
them. But strip the idea here comprised, of the 
sophistical garb in which it is dressed, and it is simply 
and plainly this, — that God had no definite purpose in 
the creation of the human race. By a sport of inge- 
nuity and power he threw them out into existence, 
with their wonderful capacities, and cast them upon 
the varying and eddying tide of time, with no purpose 
at all as to what they should be, how they should 
fare, or how their faculties should be employed, whe- 
ther to the production of final good or final evil ! 

Surely the system of faith which comprises such a 
view of the creation of God, cannot be jjpceived as the 
gospel of him, who, by a just metonymy of speech, is 
called the ivisdom of God, We look into the physical 
20^' 



234 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



creation, and in things of comparatively no impor- 
tance, there is acknowledged on all hands to have 
been a definite and infallible purpose in their produc- 
tion. But those beings, for whom all other things 
were made, — the universe of created minds, each one 
of which is of more importance than all the universe 
besides, are supposed to be thrown out into existence 
without a plan ! there being with the Creator no great 
purpose as to their final employment and condition ! — 
But these dark, blank, soul-mystifying schemes of 
religious profession, are the folly of man, and not of 
God. 

I have made these brief references to opposites, in 
order to make more clear and impressive the affirma- 
tive of our subject. In the grand moral system taught 
by the revelation of Jesus Christ, is the highest and 
fullest manifestation of the wisdom, and all the perfec- 
tions of God. And here his wisdom is seen to be that 
which is '-full of mercy and good fruits, without pptr- 
tiality and without hypocrisy." ^ Its moving energy is 
love. And the communication of this interesting truth 
is the first aim and effort of the gospel. ''God is 
love." "God commendeth his love towards us. in 
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'" 
And this testimony of love is for our race; for, ''he, 
by the grace of God, tasted death for every man."" 
It is hence evinced that " the Lord is good to all and 
his tender mercies are over all his works." ^ Such 
being the moral character and disposition of the Cre- 
ator, it was of course his desii^e^ in the creation of our 
species, to make their existence to be their blessing. 
All, indeed, ^scribe to God this benevolent desire. 
And as a wise Creator, he would, of course, institute 

« James iii. 17. ^ Rom. v. 8. " Heb. ii. 9. " Ps. cxlv. 9. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR' S BIISSION. 235 

a purpose agreeable to his desire. And so he did. By 
the revelation of Jesus Christ, ''he hath abounded to- 
ward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made 
known unto us the mystery of his will, according to 
his good pleasure, which he hath purposed iji himself, 
that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he 
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both 
which are in heaven and on earth, even in him.'''' 

It is hence seen to be a settled point, that God hath 
a purpose in his moral creation, — not a purpose which 
may be anything or nothing, purposed and thrown at 
loose ends in some weak and fallible agency, — but he 
hath purposed it in himself. — committing its perform- 
ance to his own wisdom and might. And this purpose 
is, that his moral creation shall be harmonized and 
beatified with his own spirit of love and blessedness, 
revealed in Jesus Christ. And though some have told 
us that if all this is true, it is not wise and prudent to 
preach it, yet the apostle assures us that in the full 
revelation of this glorious truth, God -'hath abounded 
toward us in all ivisdoni and prudence.''^ That it is 
so, we shall see demonstrated in the sequel. 

An objection to our faith-inspiring view of the per- 
fect and successful wisdom and power of God in his 
moral creation and government, has been thought to 
be raised from the present existence of evil. God," it 
is said, '-'is as wise, and good, and powerful now, as 
he ever will be ; and therefore as evil now exists, not- 
withstanding such are the perfections of God, it always 
may exist with equal consistency." But this is a beg- 
ging of the question. There is no dispute that evil 
exists; hut why is it permitted to be? We are no- 
where told that it is in frustration of any purpose of 

w Eph. i. 8—10. 



236 



COMPEND OF CHKISTIAN DIVINITY. 



God. God saw fit to give us our initiatory state of 
being in a mortal constitution, with passions and ap- 
petites subject to various and counter influences. He 
has given us a law, or rule of right and happiness. 
But he has not revealed it as his purpose^ at once and 
from the beginning, to fill the minds of men with the 
full light and knowledge of his truth and glory, and 
bring to bear upon them all that moral influence, 
which should make this law of right the governing 
prmciple of the w^hole man. True, the neglect of this 
law is sometimes called the not doing of the loill of 
God. But a will of precept is here meant, and not a 
will of purpose. Men may, and do, in this peccable 
state, violate the law of commandment, or rule of 
moral right, given them to guide and discipline. But 
if we once admit that men may frustrate the purpose 
of God, to our mind the Deity is dethroned,— all our 
hope in him is vanished, and, ''like the baseless 
fabric of a vision, leaves not a wreck behind.'' 

But our immortal hope is not in the will of precept, or 
law of commandment, which is made binding upon all 
men from the beginning ; — it is in the revealed will of 
purpose which Jehovah hath purposed in himself. 
His own perfections, then, are pledged for its accom- 
plishment — not all at the present moment, but ''in the 
dispensation of the fulness of times." And for the ac- 
complishment of this purpose, God will make tributary 
the very incidents which have been urged as objec- 
tions to his successful wisdom and goodness in his 
plans. The experience Avhich shall be derived both 
from the obedience and disobedience of the will of pre- 
cept, and the rewards and punishments consequent, — 
and from the various blessings and trials of earth, — 
and from the ravages of death, and the resurrection from 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR* S MISSION. 



237 



the dead. — and the teachmgs and manifestations of 
truth and love. — all these disciplines, trials, mercies, 
and moral influences, will God make to concur, by 
their operations, in due time to rem.ove the very will 
and disposition of wrong, and make the law of love, 
and life, and liberty, and praise, the ruling spirit of the 
universal whole. 

What ! the present existence of evil an objection 
to this hope ? We have seen that the present exist- 
ence of evil is not a failure of the original purpose of 
God : — but its eternal continuance would be. Such is 
the revealed word. "The creature (creation) was 
made subject to vanity, not wilUiigly, but by reason 
of hhii Avho hath subjected the same in hope : because 
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God.'''' IS the fact^ then, that the creation 
is as God made it^ subject to vanity, an argument that it 
shall not be as he has purposed to make it. delivered from 
the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of 
the children of God? — The wisdom of the world is 
foolishness indeed, compared with the wisdom of 
Heaven. 

The Scriptures are so full of instruction on the great 
subject before us, that it is diflicult to restrict our selec- 
tions to the space that can be afibrded. But to inspire 
the reader with admiration of the fulness, the force, 
and the harmony of the inspired teachings, on this as 
on other great and important doctrines, I will go back 
to the beginning, and present specimens of the testi- 
mony as it proceeds from age to age. 

On the instance of the first communication of God 
to man, after he had fallen under the power of evil, he 

^ Rom. viii. 20, 21. 



238 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



declared in substance, that the seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpejits heady Let us maintain, now, the 
simphcity of an inquiring child, and receive this, and 
every other witness, in its legitimate and natural bear- 
ing. Go back in your thoughts to that interesting 
occasion. There stand the human race, in embryo, in 
their first progenitors. They have just fallen a prey 
to deception, and become involved in the bondage of 
sin. The source of the deception, and the conse(|uent 
evil that is preying upon them, is represented by the 
metaphor of a serpent, which is an emblem of cun- 
ning. And now, their Creator and Father, for their 
encouragement and hope, declares in their hearing, 
that the woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head. 
As the bruising of the head denotes entire destruction, 
the plain indication of this passage to the unsophisti- 
cated mind, is, that God would raise up one of the 
woman's progeny, who should make an end of evil, 
and free from its dominion the moral creation. 

There is the same indication in the promise of God 
revealed to Abraham, and renewed to Isaac, and 
again to Jacob: — ^^In thy seed shall all nations (kin- 
dreds and families) of the earth be blessed." St. 
Peter applies this to Jesus Christ; and explains the 
promised blessing to be the salvation described in the 
preceding section, deliverance from sin. ^' Ye are the 
children of the prophets, and of the covenant which 
God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, 
And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be 
blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his 
Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away 
every one of you from his iniquities."^ St. Paul also 

y G^n. iii. 15. z Gen. xviii. 18 ; xxii. 18 ; xxvi. 4 ; xxviii. 14. 
a Acts iii. 25. 26. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR'S MISSION. 239 

draws from this ancient promise tlie same hope of 
spiritual good. To the Galatians he says, '-And the 
Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the 
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel 
unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be 
blessed." And he further assures us that there is no 
principle involved in the law, which was given to 
Moses four hundred and thirty years after this gospel 
promise, which shall in any manner interfere to pre- 
vent the graciously promised work of moral renova- 
tion.^ 

The prophet Isaiah, describing in poetic strain the 
blessed work of Messiah's mission, says, — *■ He shall 
smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with 
the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. The 
vv'olf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the 
young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child 
shall lead them.'" Observe, it is with the breath of 
his lips that he w411 slay the wicked, — the word of his 
truth and grace. And as it is not with the brute crea- 
tion, but the moral world, that his mission has to do, 
Avhat is here said of the friendliness and docility of the 
leopard, wolf and lion, is a poetic description of the 
effect upon the rnoral world, to be wrought by the 
reign of Christ. 

The same blessed work is signified again by a deliv- 
erance from darkness and prison. -'I the Lord have 
called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, 
and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of 
the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the 
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, 



b Gal. iii. 8, 17. 



c Isa. xi. 4, 6. 



240 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and them that set m darkness out of the prison- 
house.""^ 

There is an important point in all these gospel testi- 
monies, to which I would call the reader's particular 
attention. They do not treat on the reward of human 
virtue, but on the plan of God to produce virtue itself. 
We are not here instructed as to what shall be the 
allotment of those who will escape from darkness and 
from prison; but we are taught of the purpose of 
God's moral government through Christ, to open the 
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, 
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. 

The purpose of God in Christ contemplates mankind 
as in moral darkness, in the bondage of sin and error ; 
and it institutes plans and arrangem.ents for their en- 
lightenment and moral renovation. By duly observ- 
ing this trait in the gospel teachings, as you make 
progress, you will be the better qualified to appre- 
ciate our elucidation of the same in the sequel. 

Passing over a world of instruction on this interest- 
ing subject, by the prophets, VvO will come and listen 
to the first annunciation of the Saviour's advent. 
'•And there vx^ere in the same country shepherds 
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks 
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon 
them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them : and they were sore afraid. And the angel said 
unto them, Fear not : for^ behold, I biding unto you 
good tidings of great joy. which shall be unto all peo- 
ple. For unto you is born, this day, in the city of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.^'' 

Unto whom is Christ born to be a Saviour 7 This 
was addressed to the shepherds of Judea: ^'Unto you 

"J Isa. xlii. 6, 7. *Lukeii. 8— II. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR S MISSION, 



241 



is bom a Saviour." Is he born for others? Yes; for 
the angel said this good news shall be to all people^ — 
^'unto you is born a Saviour." So, then, the creden- 
tials with which the Messiah is introduced upon earth, 
correspond with the expectation which prophetic vis- 
ions had inspired. And who can be indifferent to this 
sweet angelic message? All heaven is in excitement. 
The angel host, in glowing love to men, seeing the end 
of that high mission Vv^hich shall make them angels 
too, draw near to earth in rapturous song, — Glory to 
God in the highest^ and on earth peace, good will to 
menJ- 

Angelic hosts above 

The blest Redeemer sing, 
And all the blissful seats of love 
"With loud hosannas ring. 

^' Ye pilgrims too^ below, 

Your hearts and voices raise ; 
Let every breast with gladness glow, 
And every ifioiuh be praise.'' 

[Digression, Kind reader, I desire you to hold in 
mind the point of progress in our subject at which we 
now break off, while you go with me in a short di- 
gression. I solemnly ask you to ponder, with prayerful 
candor, the question I have to ask you. The stage of 
our progress in the study of Messiah's mission, is the 
precise spot for our halting to turn our face to the ques- 
tion I allude to. The matter of inquiry is this, — Yiow 
can we expect to find, in this blessed gospel mission, 
announced from heaven as matter of rejoicing unto all 
people, — and insuring results, the view of which made 
songs of praise resound through upper worlds, — hoio, I 
ask, can we expect to find, in this special economy of 
grace, a revelation of infinite, revengeful wrath, to 
21 



242 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



prey upon countless millions of souls immortalized in 
endless torments ? It is a settled case, that if we are 
to find this doctrine in the inspired revelation at all, 
we are to find it revealed in this gospel ministry of 
glad tidings to all people, which filled angelic minds 
Avith thoughts of Heaven^ s good will to men ! ! 

Be gentle, dear reader : — I perceive that you will 
turn your head with horror at the disgusting incon- 
gruity. The thought that such an appalling doctrine 
should, as an essential and distinguishing constituent, 
peculiarly belong to such a glorious system of love, is 
distracting to the mind which has lived upon harmo- 
nies. Such a combination of theological parts, if it 
were not infinitely more horrid, would be no less 
ludicrous than the poet's description of the incongru- 
ous painter : 

Suppose a painter to a human head 
Should join a horse's neck, and wildly spread 
The various plumage of a feathered kind 
O'er limbs of different beasts dibsurdly joined ; 

^ AA, 4/- ^ 

■TV* W 'TT' VT "TV" 

Would you not laugh, such pictures to behold ? 
Such is the book, which, like a sick man's dreams, 
Varies all shapes, and mixes all extremes. 
###### 

Monstrous to mix the cruel and the kind, 

Serpents with birds, and lambs with tigers joined." ^ 

But at the enormous incongruity, which makes a 
boundless world of moral desolation and inexhaustible 
anguish the revelation of the glad tidings, and of good 
will from Heaven to men, — at this, I say, we cannot 
laugh. In the language of its eloquent advocate, 
Saurin, ^^It makes some melancholy, and others 
mad;" and to thousands ^4t makes life itself a cruel 

f Francis' Horace. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR's MISSION. 



243 



bitter." And how can it otherwise affect the sensitive 
soul that truly believes it 7 To feel the pressure of 
infinite consequences pending our present doings, 
— 'infinite joy, or endless vv^oe" = — to be turned one 
way or the other to our allotment by our every thought, 
word, or deed in life, — is what no mind, grasping its 
magnitude, could endure, and be sane, for a single 
hour. And though there is a theoretic belief of this 
doctrine, which, in some degree affects its millions,— 
and though thousands have been capable of realizing 
the tremendous hazard, so as to be crushed and made 
wrecks by its weight, — yet it is a happy circumstance 
that comparatively few are constitutionally capable of 
grasping the subject. 

St. Paul congratulated his Christian brethren, in 
that they had '-not come unto the mountain that 
might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto 
blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the voice of 
words, which voice they that heard entreated that the 
word should not be spoken to them any more ; " but that 
they were come unto mount Sion, and imto the city of 
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." But if the 
doctrine which we have now turned aside to look upon, 
were the genius of mount Sion, the contrast must have 
been reversed. For I would leave these mountains of 
human divinity, and cast myself down at the foot of 
mount Sinai with pleasure. And Sinai's cloud, which, 
compared with the Christian gospel, was so black and 
portentous, should, in comparison with this hum.an 
gospel, be as the soft cloud of spring which varie- 
gates the sky ; and Sinai's thunder, which was com- 
paratively so fearfully terrific, should be as the mild 
floating breezes along the green meadow : — for, even our 

s Watts, H. 55, B. 2, 



244 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



opposers being judges, there was notliiiig revealed on 
Sinai's snmniit, by a million times multiplied without 
end. so terrible, as the doctrine of immortal anguish, 
entire and hopeless torments. 

That this doctrine vv^as not revealed under the Old 
Testament dispensation, was shov/n in the appropriate 
place, under the penalties of the law. But I will here 
add, not proof, but further evidence that I did not per- 
vert the testimony in making out the proof referred to. 
One circumstance to this point is the fact, that such a 
man as Professor Stuart, the head of the first Calvin- 
istic school in our country, with all his desire to find 
this doctrine in the Old Testament, is unable to put 
his finger upon its revelation there. He does, indeed, 
in his Exegetical Essays, make an efi'ort to palm this 
doctrme, in some form, upon two or three passages of 
these Scriptures. But the manner of his doing this, sets 
his entire want of proof in a light most strong and con- 
clusive. The method of his argument is substantially 
this : — Sheol denotes, primarily, the iinder-ivorld, the 
region of the dead^ whither both the righteous and the 
wicked go, at their decease. And in this sense it is 
comxmonly used. Still, there are certain texts in which 
Sheol occurs, where it may indeed be explained, as 
usual, of the state of the dead universally, but where 
it may also be supposed to include the idea of a place 
of punishment there; that is, if we first take for 
granted that the respective writers held that there 
was such a place there." ^ 

What a remarkable argument is this, from such an 
author! And how forcible is its evidence to the point 
before us! With his deep penetration, strong grasp of 
mtellect, extensive learning, and irrepressible desire to 

^ Stuart's Essaysj p. 106—114 ; and note in Uni. Ex. v. 3. p. 412. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 245 



sustain the doctrine in question, he can find no reve- 
lation of it in the ancient Scriptures. The most he 
can findj is, two or three figurative texts, where it 
may he supposed tliat a place of torment beyond 
death is alhided to. if v:e take for granted that the 
respective writers held there was such a place there ! 
So, then, these writers have never revealed such a doc- 
trine. They have never told us that they held that 
there was such a place in hades as a place of tor- 
ment. We have got to take for granted, without 
proof, that they held it. and then we 77iay suppose 
that they included the disputed idea in the texts 
referred to. Vain, then, has been the learned Profes- 
sor's search, in those Scriptures, for the doctrine in 
question. 

I must also present the reader, in this place, with 
the conclusion of the learned and critical orthodox 
Jahn. upon the same subject. 

That the ancient Hebrews believed, that there was 
a difl'erence, in their situation in sheol, between the 
^ood and the bad. although it midit indeed be inferred 
from their ideas of the justice and benignity of God, 
(Matt. xxii. 32.) cannot be proved by direct testimony. 
The probability, however, that this was the case, 
seems to be increased, when it is remembered, that 
the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, who, in chap- 
ter iii. IS, speaks somewhat skeptically of the immor- 
tality of the soul, says in chapter xii. 17, that the 
^spirit slmll return to God icho gave it.' [and, although 
he nowhere in express terms holds up the doctrine 
of future rewards and punishments, informs us in 
chapter xii. 14, of something very much like it, viz., 
^ That God shall bring every loork into judgment^ 
xoith every secret thing whether good or eviV 
21^ 



246 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



We have not authority, therefore, decidedly to say, 
that any other motives were held out to the ancient 
Hebrews to pursue the good and to avoid the evil, 
than those which were derived from the rewards and 
punishments of this life. That these were the motives 
which were presented to their minds, in order to influ- 
ence them to pursue a right course of conduct, is 
expressly asserted in Isa. xxvi. 9, 10, and may be 
learned also from the imprecations which are met with 
in many parts of the Old Testament." ' 

Finally, it can hardly be regarded as a disputed 
point in theology, among the learned, that endless 
punishment was not revealed in the ancient oracles 
of God, which he committed . to his chosen people. 
Of course, the people of those earlier ages, including 
the first four thousand years of the world, are not 
to be judged by a law involving such a penalty. It 
is contrary to all justice, human and Divine, to judge 
a man by an ex post facto law. The earlier inhabi- 
tants of the earth were amenable only to the law 
under which they lived. If endless punishment, then, 
is a constituent of the second covenant, or covenant 
of grace ! which is a revelation of the gospel of good 
tidings to all people ! ! none but those whose lot it is 
to live in the Christian age, can be exposed to its 
terrible vengeance. What a covenant were this, in 
the light of which for the believers to say, ^' For God 
hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, 
and of love, and of a sound mind."^ And if Sion's 
thunder were so infinitely more tremendous than 
that of Sinai, what a wonderful congratulation was 
that of St. Paul to the Hebrew Christians, that they 

i Jahn's Biblical Archaeology, § 114. .32 Tim. i. 7. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 



247 



had not come unto the Sinai of their fathers, but that 
they had come unto Mount Sion ! 

But enough of this. That merciless doctrine, which 
the learned who would find it, cannot, in the old cove- 
nant, forms no part of the new. Therefore we will 
return to our subject, the purpose of the Saviour's 
mission.] 

And now we are at home again, returned from our 
long digression, to '-the glorious gospel of tlie blessed 
God.*^ I was showing that the mission of Jesus com- 
prises matters of joyful interest to the human race. 
In the same light do the Saviour's own words abun- 
dantly represent him. ''For the Son of man is come 
to save that which was lost.''^ And he represents his 
faithfulness to be as that of a shepherd, who, in pur- 
suit of the wandering of his flock, will never relinquish 
his enterprise, while there is one lost sheep in the 
wilderness. He will press on, to the joy set before 
him, the greeting of the last poor wanderer restored.^ 

The apostles of Jesus, to whom he gave the words 
the Father had given to him, abound in the most 
plain and unambiguous testimony on the purpose of 
God in Christ. I have drawn somewhat upon them 
already, and shall not find space, nor do I deem it 
needful, to give but a few additional specimens of 
their style of gospel witness. St. Paul, in his epistle 
to the Romans, (v. 15 — 19.) represents the greatness 
and extent of the cure, through Christ, of the evils 
of humanity, by placing it in comparison with those 
evils, and giving it the supremacy. ^' But not as the 
offence, so also is the free gift. For if, through the 
offence of one, many be dead : much more the grace 
of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, 



^ Matt, xviii. 11. 



1 Matt, xviii. 12, 13 ; Luke xvi. 4—6. 



248 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ^ ^ 
Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came 
upon all men unto condemnation, even so, by the 
righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men 
unto justification of life. For as by one man's dis- 
obedience many were made sinners : so by the obe- 
dience of one shall many be made righteous." 

We are not permitted, by the rule of Divine judg- 
ment revealed in the Scriptures, to construe this as 
meaning that the individual sins of Adam are imputed 
to his posterity ; for it is declared by Jehovah that the 
son shall not be condemned for the sins of the father."" 
The apostle seems to take a view of mankind as 
standing in the earthy or Adamic nature, and as all 
being subject, to a greater or less degree, to the same 
infirmities and evils, in that same nature. Then, on 
the other hand, he shows it to be the plan of Divine 
grace to bring about the same eff'ective and character- 
istic relation between mankind and Christ, or the hea- 
venly nature ; — and to make this relation equally 
extensive, and even more productive of its legitimate 
fruits. To deny this construction, would be to make 
this portion of the Record without meaning. 

The same sentiment is expressed in Rom. viii. 20, 
21. The passage was incidentally quoted in a former 
part of this section, but we introduce it again for a 
more critical examination. ''For the creature was 
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason 
of him who hath subjected the same in hope ; be- 
cause the creature itself also shall be delivered from 
the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of 
the children of God." The term rendered creature in 
this quotation, is the same as that rendered creation 

Ezek. xviii. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 249 

in the succeeding verse. It is obviously used for the 
human species. It cannot mean less than the entire 
human species, because no less than the whole of this 
creation was made subject to vanity, and this word 
is never used to designate any favored class, such as 
believers. Indeed, believers are distinctly and sep- 
arately referred to in the succeeding context, as, at 
least, but a portion of that creation. ^'For we know 
that the whole creaiioii groaneth and travaileth in pain 
together until now. And not only they, but ourselves 
also^ which have the first fruits of the spirit, groan 
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the 
redemption of our body." Here, then, we are certified 
by the apostle, that by the creation spoken of in this 
case, he means the lohole creation^ (or pasa ktisis, 
every creature.) 

Again, nothing more than the human creation could 
have been meant ; for it comprises only such creatures 
as ^' shall be delivered from the bondage of corrupt 
tion, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." 
It may no more be applied to brute and inanimate 
creatures, than may the commission of our Lord to 
his apostles, ^^Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature/^ 

And now, what is the truth affirmed, concerning the 
human creation 1 In the first place, it was made 
subject to vanity," — constituted mortal, and placed 
in a peccable state, — ^'not willingly," not of its own 
choice ; the human species were not counselled as to 
the constitution in which they should be brought into 
being, or the world in which they should be placed ; 
— ^'but by reason of him who hath subjected the 
same, in hope." God, in his wisdom, saw fit to intro- 
duce mankind into an initiatory state of being like this 



250 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



— in hope. This is not man's final home. This is 
not his chief inheritance. He is heir to an immortal 
life. Consequently, God has placed in the very con- 
stitution of his present being, a desire, a longing, a 
travail of soul, a hope, reaching for that greater good 
to come. At verse 19th, it is called an '^earnest ex- 
pectation^ waiting for the manifestation of the sons of 
Godj^^—wa?iiing a manifestation of that blessed truth 
which was already possessed by those who were 
characteristically the sons of God. At verse 20th, it 
is called hope, and at verse 22d, travail. All these 
terms are used to denote that principle in the con- 
stitution of man, which is the basis of the religious 
sentiment, and which wants the truth of Christianity. 

And why has God, in placing his moral children in 
this dying, peccable state, inwrought with their nature 
the principles of this hope? The answer is before 
us: — ^'Because the creation shall be delivered from 
the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty 
of the children of God." In the consummation of his 
gospel purpose, God will show forth a perfect work, 
— a moral creation in a finished state, answering to 
the designs indicated by the ''hope" of their incipient 
being. 

There is a most luminous testimony of St. Paul, 
on our present subject, in his first epistle to the 
Corinthians, which I will reserve to a subsequent 
chapter, on the resurrection of the dead. The fol- 
lowing to the Colossians (i. 19—21) is to the point. 
'' For it pleased the Father that in him should all 
fulness dwell ; and having made peace through the 
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to 
himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in 
earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were 



PURPOSE OF THE SAYIOUr's MISSION. 251 

sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by- 
wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." That 
the phrase all things^ in this case, refers not to a 
present visible church of believers, but to the mass 
of mankind, is evident from the circumstance that 
the latter class are said to be now already reconciled. 
And that the great reconciliation promised, is spiritual 
assimilation, is shown by the reference made to the 
reconciliation of christian believers, as a sample of the 
entire work to be accomplished. 

Another most clear and conclusive witness to the 
great truth before us, is in the following remarkable 
words: (Phil. ii. 9 — 11;) ^'Wherefore God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father." The saying, Every crea- 
ture above the earthy on the earthy and under it, was a 
common periphrasis among the Greek writers, for the 
imiverse. The idea is, that God designs that the uni- 
verse of his moral creatures, whether now living or 
dead, whether above the earth, on the earth, or under 
it, shall be brought into subjection to his Son Jesus 
Christ. And this subjection can be no other than 
spiritual, because Christ reigns in no other than a 
spiritual kingdom. And the same kind of subjection 
is involved in the act of confessing him their Lord, 
their Owner and Master, to the glory of God the 
Father. 

But we should extend our work to the making of 
many books, were we to undertake the quotation and 
exposition of one half of the Bible testimonies upon 



252 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



the great gospel purpose. I will barely add. in this 
place, that in confirmation of the view we took of the 
first quotation from Genesis, upon the bruising of the 
serpent's head, St. Paul says to the Hebrews, (ii. 14, 
15,) '^Forasmuch then as the children are partakers 
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part 
of the same, that through death he might destroy him 
that had the power of death, that is the devil ; and 
deliver them who through fear of death were all their 
lifetime subject to bondage." The word devil (diabo- 
los) signifies an impostor, a deceiver, an enemy, &c. 
It is sometimes used for personal adversaries and de- 
ceivers, and sometimes for evil principles. In this 
case it seems to be used as a sort of personification of 
the principles of evil, including the physical with the 
moral, — whatever is adverse to the well-being of man. 
All this shall be destroyed by the energies of that 
power and love Divine, which are sealed and attested 
by the death of Christ. And again; (1 John iii. 8;) 
^•For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, 
that he might destroy the works of the devil." These 
works are sin, and its concomitant evils. 

Contemplate, now, the sum of what we have learned 
from the Scriptures, of the purpose of the Saviours 
mission. It is to enlighten the human mind, and de- 
liver it from the prison of moral darkness, — to regene- 
rate and purify it, and deliver it from the bondage of 
sin and error. It is to instruct and elevate the uni- 
verse of created minds, and reconcile and harmonize 
them with the spirit of the Eternal ; in the prosecution 
of which Avork every principle and power of evil shall 
be destroyed, and the universe shall join in the triumph- 
ant shout of the victory, the perfect victory, of life and 
good. And the designs of this gospel mission are not 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 



253 



appropriated to any particular class or denomination of 
men, — but they are for man^ for the offspring of God^ 
for the human creation^ 

To say that all the blessings proposed by this gos- 
pel purpose are suspended on precarious conditions to 
be performed by man, proposing that certain good 
shall come to the lot of those who will perform cer- 
tain works of obedience, leaving it uncertain whether 
any will comply with the terms, — this indicates an 
utter bhndness of mind in relation to the whole sub- 
ject. This gospel purpose does not propose certain 
rewards to men on condition they will be free from 
sin, and become holy. There is abundance of Scrip- 
ture which instructs us of the rewards of faith and 
virtue : but this gospel purpose of grace looks upon 
mankind in the character of sinners, and proposes, by 
appropriate means, to deliver them from the love and 
power of sin, and win their hearts and affections to 
truth, to holiness, and to God. 

As this is an important point in the character of the 
Saviour's mission, on which, in truth, its value mainly 
depends, I will detain the reader a few moments upon 
it. I will take him to a portion of the inspired record, 
which gives special instruction on this very feature of 
the gospel covenant, a.nd places it in contrast with the 
law. The Scripture I refer to is the eighth chapter of 
Hebrews, beginning at the 6th verse, — from which it 
reads as follows : — But noiu hath he obtained a more 
excellent ministry^ by how much also he is the Mediator 
of a better covenant^ which ivas established upon better 
joromises. For if that first covenajit had been faidtless^ 
then shoidd no place have been sought for the second. 
For finding fault loith them^ he saith. Behold the days 
come, saith the Lord, when I ivill make a new covenant 
22 



254 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



ivith the house of Israel and the house of JudahP — 
To this contrast between the two covenants, and the 
distinguishing characteristics of the second on the 
point under present consideration, we will devote a 
brief and respectful attention. 

1st. Wherein consisted the fault of the first cove- 
nant? It was not in its unsuitableness to ansv^^er the 
end for which God designed it. Some have repre- 
sented that God designed the first covenant as an op- 
portunity for man to procure, by conditions performed 
by himself on earth, a title to heaven ; but that it 
failed to answer this design, and so God devised a 
second plan for securing the same object. But the 
first covenant never proposed to man, as the reward 
of his complying with its conditions, an immortal hea- 
ven. To possess mankind of that infinite good God 
never devised but one plan, and that is the gospel plan 
whose character is our present subject. This we shall 
find to be the first and last, the only plan devised of 
God for the accomplishment of that end. And this 
plan shall never fail. 

But the first covenant, which in some respects was 
faulty, was perfect in its place, or in view of the ends 
for which it was designed. It was, in the first place, 
designed in its immediate use, to redeem a chosen 
people, and generally to secure them as a people, from 
the popular idolatries of the world. All the sacrifices 
of the Mosaic ceremonial law had their meaning in 
this respect. Many useful animals, such as cattle, 
sheep, &c., were worshipped by the Egyptians and 
other nations, as gods. The Hebrews had their edu- 
cation in the midst of these idolatries, and needed 
some very efiicient means to wean and preserve them 
from the prevailing practice. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 255 

Now what could be better calculated to wear off 
these people's superstitious veneration for those idol 
gods, than to habituate them to take these same crea- 
tures after whose image those idols were made, and 
sacrifice them as burnt offerings to the Lord Jehovah ? 
As Moses said unto Pharaoh, when he had asked per- 
mission to go far into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to 
God, and Pharaoh refused, saying, Go ye, sacrifice to 
your God in the land." Moses said, -'It is not meet 
so to do, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the 
Egyptians to the Lord our God : Lc, shall we sacrifice 
the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, 
and will they not stone us?" 

Indeed, all the ceremonies of the Mosaic law had 
either a direct or indirect reference to some sinful and 
idolatrous practice of the surrounding heathen nations, 
against which it was important that Israel should be 
guarded, — while they indicated also the purity of 
character which the Hebrews should maintain. And 
he who is Avell informed concerning the state of the 
Hebrews, and of the world, in those early days, — and 
who considers that it is suitable to the dignity of God 
to employ means adapted to circumstances, and to the 
appointed ends, — will perceive that the first covenant 
was perfectly fitted to the use it was designed for, 
in the particular which has now been noticed. 

In the second place, the first covenant was not 
faulty, in respect to its adaptedness to its intended use, 
as preparatory to the introduction of the new and 
better covenant. It was designed to keep up a broad 
line of distinction between the Jews and the idolatrous 
heathen nations, so as to make that nation a repository 
of a series of teachings and prophesies, pointing to the 
coming Messiah, and preparing for the introduction and 



256 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



establishment of his more perfect, or rather, most per- 
fect system of reUgion. In this respect the law is, as 
St. Paul said, ^'om^ schoolmaster to bring us to 
Christ." 

In what respect, then, was that first covenant faulty ? 
It was faulty in that it was not adapted for the accom- 
plishment of all that for mankind, which God designed 
by some means to do for them. St. Paul was here 
reasoning with the Hebrews, some of whom, it ap- 
pears, had imbibed the opinion that the whole Mosaic 
institution was designed to be confirmed and perpetu- 
ated under the reign of the Messiah. He aimed to 
show them that the Mosaic dispensation, though good 
in its place, must be seen to be faulty at once, when 
proposed as a perpetual institution for all nations 
and all ages. And he urged upon them the self- 
evident fact, that if that covenant had not been 
faulty in this respect, — if it had been fitted to answer 
all the purpose of good for mankind which God had 
designed for them, — then there should have been no 
place for a second covenant ; a.nd he referred them to 
the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied, saying, '-Be- 
hold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will 
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and 
with the house of Judah ; not according to the cove- 
nant which I made with their fathers, in the day when 
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land 
of Egypt.'' 

Accordingly, that first covenant was faulty, in that 
it was not fitted to the comjjletioii of God's iwrfect work 
of good for mankind. It was designed for the tem- 
porary use of a particular people; the blessings 
which it promised were of a temporal nature ; and its 
promises were conditional^ the bestowment of them 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION, 



257 



being uncertain according to the uncertainty of the 
creature's faithfulness. 

2d. In the second place I will point out the specific 
difference of the second covenant. This our apostle in 
the context pronounces a better covenant^ established on 
better promises. Wherein is it better ? 

First; it is better, because it engages the bestowment 
of better things. Now the word covenant signifies a 
testament, a contract, or an agreement. It may be an 
agreement mutually entered into by two parties, its 
performance depending equally on both. Or it may 
be an engagement which one party takes on itself, un- 
conditionally to perform for the benefit of the other. 
This second covenant is an engagement which God 
has made, of his own free grace, to bestow spiritual 
and immortal good on the human race. Hence it is 
said of the gospel^ which is the revelation of this better 
covenant, testament, or engagement of the Lord, that 
life and immortality are brought to light by it. 

Secondly ; this second covenant is better, and estab- 
lished on better promises, in that its promises are un- 
conditional. This is a conspicuous difference which was 
pointed out by the prophet, whom the apostle quotes 
in the case before us. ^'I will make a new covenant 
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 
not according to the covenant which I made with their 
fathers, because they continued not in my covenant, 
and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." Here the 
fact is noted, that even the temporal blessings which 
were proposed to the people by that first covenant, 
were not always enjoyed by them, because the bless- 
ings were proposed on conditions which they failed to 
perform. And the circumstance that the people failed 
of enjoying even the full blessings proposed by the first 
22^ 



258 



COMPEND 0*F CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



covenantj through their own falhbiUty, — this circum- 
stancCj I say, being offered by Jehovah as an impor- 
tant reason why he would secure those better blessings 
which he designed for them, by a covenant not like 
the former, certainly directs our attention to the article 
of conditionality ^ as the point of difference specially 
referred to in this place. It notifies us that the new 
covenant should not be subject to any faultiness or 
failure, in regard to the final communication of its 
promised blessings to mankind, through their not 
walking in it. And the fact of which we are hereby 
notified, is clearly seen in the terms of the covenant 
itself, which here follows : For this is the covenant 
which I will make with the house of Israel, after those 
days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their mind, 
and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them 
a God, and they shall be to me a people : and they 
shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every 
man his brother, saying. Know the Lord; for all 
shall know me, from the least to the greatest; for 
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness ; and their 
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.'*' 

It is hence made to appear, beyond controversy, that 
this new covenant is an unconditional engagement 
which God has made, of himself, in his own free 
grace, to confer the needed benefit of salvation on his 
moral creatures. God here publishes his positive en- 
gagement of what he will do, or will bring his crea- 
tures to be and to do. 

But I will caution my readers, that none of you leave 
this subject, with the impression, that this new cove- 
nant engages to bless mankind in their sins. It recog- 
nizes the necessity of your being holy in order to be 
happy, as much as the law does. But the difference 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 



259 



is in thiSj — that while the law commands men to be 
holy, but is not an engagement to make them so, the 
new covenant is the free testament of God, whereby 
he engages to employ and direct means to make men 
holy. It has been shown that, of the Mediator, or 
Executor of this new and better covenant. God's angel 
said, ^'He shall save his people from their sins.'' 

For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, 
that he might destroy the works of the devil,*' and 

reconcile all things unto himself" To inquire, there- 
fore, by way of objection, whether men can be saved, 
if they will never love God, and be holy, would only 
be to inquire, whether men can be saved, if God 
should not, according to the better promises of his bet- 
ter covenant, save them? We have only to answer, 
in the words of the apostle, het God be true. 

But it is the wonder of the world, — a stumbling- 
block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness, — that 
GOD should institute a purpose and prosecute a gov- 
ernment, in relation to the future character and condi- 
tion of moral accoimtable beings. ''Surely," it is 
objected, ''God will not force sinners to be saved, 
whether they will or not ! " No, no ; there is no such 
absurdity in the Divine system of operation. The 
Creator of the physical world is also the Author of 
the human mind. It is his Avorkmanship. Its moral 
agency is his workmanship. It is "a wheel within a 
wheel," placed there by the Author, not to defeat his de- 
sign in the whole, but to promote his benevolent plan. 
Man could not be man,- — he could not become the holy, 
happy being intended, without this accountable agency. 
But the Creator of mind perfectly well knows his work. 
He knows its spring of action, and by what influences 
its motions may be governed. And He who rolls the 



260 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



spheres in their orbits, and who governs the ^^free 
winds," by touching the causes that regulate their 
motions, can also accomplish his great purpose, in the 
imiverse of mind, without violence to the established 
moral principles and laws. 

When God has revealed to men his laws of com- 
mandment, touching their moral duty, they have often 
transgressed, and subjected themselves to the conse- 
quent punishment. But when he has revealed any 
purpose of his own, even relating to the character and 
condition of moral agents, such purpose has never 
failed. He said long beforehand to Abraham, ''Thy 
seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs ; 
and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And 
that nation whom they shall serve will I judge; and 
afterwards shall they come out with great sub- 
stance." " There were thousands of free moral agen- 
cies (using the word free for voluntary) connected 
with these events. Unbelief would ask, '' what if the 
people would not go into the strange land referred to 1 
Or, if they should go there, what if the authorities of 
that land would never afflict them? They will not 
afflict them unless they are disposed to do so; and 
what if they should not indulge that disposition ? Or, 
if they should afflict them, what if the Hebrews 
would not consent to go out?" Such, I say, would 
be the language of unbelief. Such are the inquiries, 
or rather arguments, by which we are often met in 
our christian labors. We present the -word of God 
affirming his purpose of grace in Christ ; and the ob- 
jector arrays his army of ifs against us. '' What if j 
the people will never consent to this revealed arrange- [ 
ment of Jehovah? " 



"Gen. XV. 13, 14. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 261 

But had Abraham any misgivings here ? No. Abra- 
ham believed God^ and it was counted unto him for 
righteousness. '"^ And how was the event? In due 
time God, in his providence, brought about such cir- 
cumstances affecting Abraham's progeny, that they 
saw it to be their life to go down into Egypt. A 
desolating dearth prevailed in Canaan ; a message was 
received through Joseph, from the sovereign of Egypt, 
bidding them welcome to the best of the land of 
plenty ; and they consented, they chose, they desired 
to go there. When they had abode there for a season, 
and Joseph and Pharaoh were dead, and another king 
arose who knew not Joseph, he looked Vvrith jealousy 
on their growth and enterprise, and fearing their 
rivalry, he oppressed them with burdens. In this he 
deliberately acted his own choice, believing he might, 
by oppression, dwarf their energies, and hold them in 
servitude. But at length their burdens became intol- 
erable, and they sighed for freedom. The Lord 
raised them up a leader, and opened a way before 
them; and they went out with a desiring mind, and 
with much substance. 

Thus all these events, with which so many thou- 
sands of moral agencies were connected, transpired 
with the voluntary action of those accountable agents, 
— and also according to the Divine arrangement made 
known to Abraham hundreds of years before ! 

Saul of Tarsus is an instructive illustration of this 
important principle. He was raving on his way, in the 
spirit of war and violence against the cause of Christ. 
Jesus met him, and at the light of his glory the perse- 
cutor fell upon the ground. He was put upon his 
reflections by the majestic voice of love, '-Saul, Saul, 

oRom. iv. 3. 



262 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



why persecutes t thou me ? " Who art thou. Lord ? " 
the Pharisee inquired. I am. Jesus, whom thou per- 
secutest.'' ''Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?'' 
Here he is — not forced, whether he will or not, — but 
desiring to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus 
said to him at the time, ''I have appeared unto thee 
for this purpose." What ! ^purpose to accomplish on 
a free moral agent? Yes, — -'I have appeared unto 
thee for this purposed And what is the purpose? 
^'To make thee a minister and a witness of me."^ 
What an instrument was he, all in his mad career, 
with intent to exterminate the christian cause from 
earth, for Jesus to select, and meet there upon the 
way, to change into a cheerful and loving minis- 
ter of his truth ! It was the gnarliest stick in the 
moral wilderness, that Jesus chose, to work up, that 
very day, into the beautiful spiritual temple. Did he 
succeed? He did so, With all the ease with which 
the rising beams of the morning dispel the dark shades 
of night, did the sweet light of Jesus dispel the dark- 
ness of that madman's soul, and enlist his moral 
affections into his love and service. 

And when, in the fulness of times foretold, the face 
of the covering shall be taken aAvay from over all 
people, and the sweet light of heavenly truth and love 
shall shine into every mind, — then, because they are 
free moral agents, and ivill love what appears to them 
supremely lovely, and nothing in the universe can 
hinder it, will they all love and adore the eternal 
Father, '' and enjoy him forever.'' 

Such, then, is the purpose of the Saviour's mission, 
and the harmony of its operation with the constitution 

P Acts xxvi. 4 — 20. 



PTJRPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR^ S MISSION. 263 

and laws of our moral being. We see in it the per- 
fect and unfailing wisdom and ability of God,— 

<^ From seeming evil still educing good, 
And better thence again, and better still. 
In infinite progression." 

OBJECTIONS. 

1st. But it is objected, that salvation is sometimes 
represented in the Scriptures as a reward, to be be- 
stowed on the condition of faith in the gospel. Jesus, 
for instance, in his last commission to his apostles 
before his ascension, said unto them, ''Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature. 
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but 
he that believeth not shall be damned." ^ This latter 
clause has been taken by some to declare the very 
gospel itself which the disciples should preach. The 
passage has been quoted, even by some learned men, 
in the following manner : — "Jesus said unto his dis- 
ciples, ' Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
to every creature, saying, he that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 
be damned.' " But if the saying, '' He that believeth 
shall be saved'* — is the gospel which was to be 
preached, may we not ask, he that believeth what? 
What is it, by the behef of which we shall be saved, 
and for the disbelief of which we shall be condemned? 
It is the gospel. And what is the gospel? Those 
just referred to would answer, ''It is this: 'He that 
believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not 
shall be damned.' " We repeat the inquiry, He that 
believeth what ? 



iMark xvi. 15, 16. 



264 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Suppose I enter a rooirij in which are assembled a 
company of my readers, and say to you, come to 
communicate important tidings." Turning with eager 
desire, you ask with one accord, What is the news?" 
I gravely answer, Those of you who believe it, shall 
receive a signal favor, and those who believe not shall 
suffer deprivation." ^' Those who believe ivhat ?" you 
would ask with emphasis. And if I were to continue 
reiterating the same answer, you would take me for 
either a trifler or a madman. I should first communi- 
cate the proposed tidings, the truth to be believed : and 
then it would be in season to talk of the effects of your 
believing or not believing. 

So in the case before us. The Saviour did not, in 
this instance, make a statement to the disciples of 
what the gospel was. They had been with him from 
the time when he called them to his service, and had 
learned of him the subject matter of his gospel mis- 
sion : and he promised to send them the Holy Spirit, 
to farther lead them into all truth. He had told them 
before, not to go in the way of the Gentiles, but only 
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But now he 
had ^'offered himself once for all," and broken down 
the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gen- 
tiles ; and he enlarged the sphere of their ministry, say- 
ing, ^'Go ye into all the loorld^ and preach the gospel, 
(the glad tidings of truth into which I have taught 
you,) to every creatureP And then he proceeds, not 
to instruct them again into the revelations of that gos- 
pel which they were to preach, but to describe the 
consequences which should result to the people, ac- 
cordingly as they should treat the apostolic message. 

He that belie veth shall be saved." That is, the true 
believer should enjoy, as the legitimate fruit of his 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 



265 



faith, salvation from the moral darkness, the hopeless- 
ness, the guilt, the fears, and all the evils of an unbe- 
lieving and sinful state ; while the unbehever should 
remain, as a prisoner under condemnation, in the suf- 
fering of all those evils. 

This sense of the Saviour's use of the word saved^ 
in the foregoing case, is beautifully explained by St. 
Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. He was an 
unbeliever for a long time after the date of this dec- 
laration of Jesus, "He that believeth not shall be 
damned." At length he received the gospel by a liv- 
ing faith, and became a faithful teacher of it. When 
he had, by his personal ministry, established a church 
of believers in Corinth, he heard of some misunder- 
standing among them on certain essential points of 
Christian doctrine, especially that of the resurrection. 
Therefore he wrote them letters on the gospel theme, 
and other matters of interest to them. In his first 
letter he says, — "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
you the gospel which I preached unto you, which 
also ye have received, and wherein ye stand ; by 
which also ye are saved^ if ye keep in memory what 
I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."^ 
How completely this explains and confirms the saying 
of Jesus, when he commissioned his disciples to go out 
and preach the gospel, that they who would receive 
their message, shoidd be saved in their faith. The 
brethren whom the apostle addressed had believed the 
gospel, and they were saved^ by the legitimate influ- 
ence of the gospel upon their minds. 

So, then, the gospel is not a declaration of the fruits 
of faith and unbelief, but it is the revelation of the 
truth to be believed. It is the subject matter upon 

r 1 Cor. XV. Ij 2. 

23 



266 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



which for faith to act. Consequently, it is not made 
true by the belief, nor false by the disbelief of man. 
It is, as we have most clearly exhibited in the course 
of this chapter, the revelation of that grand and stu- 
pendous purpose of grace in the moral system of God's 
creation, which shall work, and overturn, and reform, 
until the last vestige of unbelief itself shall be over- 
come, and the light and spirit of God shall be all in 
all. Of this revealed plan the apostle says, But 
what if some did not believe ? Shall their unbelief 
make the faith (the promise) of God without effect ? 
God forbid."' But unbelief shuts man out of the en- 
joyment of the truth, while he abides in it. For so it 
is written, He that belie veth not the Son shall not 
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."' The 
wrath of God is the condemnatory operation of his 
law upon transgressors, under the action of which St. 
Paul had his part, when he was among those who were 
'^children of wrath, even as others."" Again, ^'He 
that believeth on him is not condemned ; (the same in 
the original as the word damned in the other passage ;) 
but he that believeth not is condemned {damned) 
already. — And this is the condemnation, that light 
is come into the world, and men have loved darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds are evil."'' But 
^Mie that receiveth my word, and believeth on him 
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
into condemnation, but is passed from death unto 



There is a marked distinction kept up throughout 
the Scriptures, as there is such distinction in fact, 
between the character and condition of the virtuous 



hfe." 



w 



» Rom. iii. 3, 4. 



t John iii. 36. 



Eph. ii. 3. 



^ John iii. 18, 19. 



w John V. 24. 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUR's MISSION. 267 

and vicious, the believer and the disbehever. While 
the wages of sin is death, the fruit of faith and obe- 
dience is life, salvation and peace. But there is not 
the least shade of discrepancy between this Scriptural 
and experimental fact, and the triumphant faith of 
God's purpose in Christ, to win the hearts and affec- 
tions of his great family to himself. 

2d. Again, it is objected, "that all men are not 
reconciled to God in the present life; many die in 
impenitence ; and we have no ground to hope for the 
enlightenment of the blind, the instruciion of the 
ignorant, and the renovation of the sinful, in the 
future life." 

This objection is founded on the prevailing senti- 
ment, that this mortal life is distinctly and peculiarly 
a day of probation for eternity ; and that the eternal 
states of all the human race are to be decided by the 
characters formed in time. But there is not the slight- 
est foundation in the Scriptures for such a sentiment, 
and nothing could be more absurd in the eye of reason. 
Elevate yourself in thought to some lofty position, from 
which you can view the entire face of the globe. Look, 
then, with a searching and contemplative eye, upon 
the whole human race in this mortal state of being. 
See, in one section, tribes ushered into being under 
circumstances of the most utter destitution of moral 
advantages, opening their eyes from infancy upon the 
most low and degrading idolatries, and growing up 
under the influence of examples the most corrupt and 
debasing. In another place the child is surrounded 
with circumstances of favor, and is trained up by the 
precepts and examples of virtue and truth. And look ; 
there are tens, hundreds, and millions, of tender in- 
fants, whose life passeth away as the dew of the morn- 



263 



CO.MPE.XD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



iiig. and they tarry not to do good or evil. They have 
formed no character here — and shall ihey have none 
in eternity ] They have deserved neither reward nor 
punishment; and shall they, therefore, neither enjoy 
good nor suffer evil in eternity ? If you say they shall 
be eternally blessed by the good favor of God. you 
explode your doctrine, as applied to more than one 
half of the human race, of making the mortal life a 
state of probation for the rewards of eternity. — And. 
look ! There is a beautiful little lad. w^hose filial love 
and cheerful smiles delight the fond hearts of his doat- 
mg parents. Yesterday, he attained to an accountable 
age in the moral government of God. To-day he has 
committed some juvenile error ; and now, the furious 
steed tramples over him. and the wheel crushes him. 
He expires. 3Iust eternity be to him an hilieritance 
of wailing and sorrow } — But yonder is a different 
scene. A youth is treading the paths of vice and folly- 
He slights all the counsels of wisdom, scorns reproof, 
and sinks deeper and deeper into moral defilement. 
He advances in age and m sin, until he is old and grey 
in years, At length he becomes guilty of crimes the 
very thought of which alarms him : he is brought to 
refiection and repentance, and soon drops into the 
grave. Shall he claim an eternity of bliss on the score 
of reward for his earthly deeds 1 — In short, when you 
take this comprehensive view of the case of man on 
earth, noting the various terms of time which are 
allotted to this mortal life, from a moment to a hun- 
dred years. — and the difierent circumstances under 
which they live, including every grade of privilege, 
from the most advantageous to almost none, or even 
to the most pernicious precepts and examples. — and 
also the variety of temperaments, and passions, and 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSIOxN. 269 

cerebral conformations for the development of mind, 
— what, to reason's eye, could appear more prepos- 
terous, than the position that this is the state, and the 
only state, which the great and wise Father of all has 
appropriated to his children, to form characters for 
eternity ? It is impossible. 

In saying this, we speak with reverence for the 
Scriptures, as well as for common sense. For the 
objectionable sentiment is no less repugnant to the 
inspired word of truth. There were a few fabricated 
texts of Scripture formerly applied to this subject, 
which are now out of date. One of these was made 
to say, There is no repentance beyond the grave;" 
and another, ^^As death leaves us so judgment will 
find us." The first is a glossary on the words of 
Solomon, (Eccl. ix. 10,) ^-For there is no work, nor 
device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, 
(hades) whither thou goest." This is an expression 
of the silence and inactivity of hades^ the state of the 
dead ; but it has no reference to the condition of that 
immortal life which is brought to light through the 
gospel. Surely he did not mean that there will be no 
knowledge nor wisdom in that blest world. The 
other passage, ''As death leaves us so judgment will 
find us," was conceived, we know not how, as an 
idea belonging to the words of the same writer, in 
Eccl. xi. 3; ''If the tree fall towards the south, or 
towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth^ 
there it shall be." But no ingenuity can show the 
application of this language to the future^ life of man. 
If you insist on applying the fall of the tree to the 
death of man, you will make the saying, the place 
where it falleth there it shall 6a," to deny the resur- 
23^ 



270 



COMPEND OF CHRLSTIAN DIVINITY. 



rection. But these words of Solomon had no such 
reference. 

And now, I ask, what reason have any to assume, 
that the eternal state of existence is a mere monotony 
that passing out of this momentary, infantile state, 
into one immortal, undying, men pass beyond the 
bounds of mtellectual and moral improvement ? We 
urge the inquiry, Where is the authority for so un- 
divine, and unphilosophical an assumption 7 And 
echo answers, " Where 

Will not mankind be moral beings in the future 
world ? Will they not be possessed of moral powers 
and perceptions, of capacities to judge between right 
and wrong, and to appreciate the difference between 
them 1 If not, then they cannot be subjects of con- 
demnation there. The improved theology of orthodox 
schools, makes the punishment of the future world to 
consist in guilt, remorse, and shame, on account of 
sins committed on earth. Then the subjects of such 
punishment will be moral beings, capable of repen- 
tance and moral reform. If they suffer guilt, shame, 
and regret, for having sinned against their heavenly 
Father, then there is a principle in their moral natures 
at war with sin, and capable of loving and choosing 
holiness. If they were possessed of natures radically 
evil, utterly opposed to God, like that of fabled de- 
mons, loving all evil and hating all good, — with such 
natures they would not suffer shame or regret for their 
sins. If their recollection of the past should trouble 
them at all, it would be that they had not sinned 
more inveterately here, against the God they hate so 
radically there. 

Hence it is seen, that for the very purpose of creat- 
ing a future hell for sinners, the schools have indued 



PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOUr's MISSION. 



271 



it with principles which shall work its destruction. 
For if man possesses such a moral nature, that, away 
from temptations to other wrongs, he so truly appre- 
ciates the right, as to be ashamed of the wrong, and 
filled with regret for past sins, he will certainly reject 
the wrong, and love and choose the right. 

And this is not only the philosophy, the principles 
of which have found way into the scholastic creeds, 
but it is Christian philosophy. God will not clothe 
men with his own immortahty, and crown them with 
his eternity, for a vain and useless purpose. When 
they are raised into a spiritual, immortal state, their 
circumstances will be, of necessity, far more advan- 
tageous for moral improvement, than in the present 
life. They will be freed, to say the least, from a 
large share of the temptations and mistakes of the 
present mortal world, — their organization will be more 
perfect, — they will be free from those sicknesses and 
wants which were the cause of much unreconciliation 
here, — and they will bear with them, in the very fact 
of the resurrection life, demonstrative proof of glorious 
truths, touching the existence, and perfections, and 
government, and purposes of God, which their gross 
perceptions did not grasp in their earthly house of 
clay. 

And there, too, will Jesus be found, the Resurrec- 
tion and the Life. The testimonies of his mission 
limit not his work to the mortal hour of human being. 
He is to prosecute his work to its accomplishment, in 
the dispensation of the fulness of times. And he is to 
gather together into the harmony of his own spirit, 
and reconcile to God, all things, whether now living 
or dead, whether above the earth, on the earth, or 
under it. Then will he see of the travail of his soul 



272 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and be satisfied. Then, in the full triumph of that love 
which sustained him, when he tasted death for every 
man, his ransomed possession, beatified and blessed, 
will he present before his Father and our Father, his 
God and our God, saying, ^'Behold I, and the chil- 
dren which thou gavest me.'"" 



^ Heb. ii. 13. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE CHRIST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE MESSIAH OF 
THE OLD. 

When Philip had become a follower of the Son of 
Mary, he found Nathanael, and said unto him, ^- We 
have found him of whom Moses in the laio and the pro- 
phets did write^ ^ We have already treated somewhat 
largely on the person, the character, and the mission 
of Christ. And it was meet that we should do so, for 
CHRIST IS CHRISTIANITY, and Christianity is 
our hope. And now I propose to present the relation 
of Jesus to the ancient prophecies, as an invaluable 
species of evidence for the truth of Christianity, 

I. That the Jews had among them a long succes- 
sion of reputed prophets, it would be a work of super- 
erogation for me to argue. I am not aware that this is 
a disputed matter. The fact is everywhere visible 
upon the face of the Scriptures, which are the accredited 
records of the Jewish nation. Nor does it appear to be 
any less obvious, that these reputed prophets prophe- 
sied of the coming of an important personage, called 
the Messiah, and peculiarly the Sent of God. Different 
appellations, however, in the course of these prophe- 
cies, are ascribed to the expected One, — and the de- 
scriptions of character vary in verbal expressions, ac- 
cording to the different names under which he is pre- 
sented. 

Moses prophesied of the One who was to come, in 
the following terms;— The Lord thy God will raise 

a John i. 45. 



274 COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DR'INITY. 

up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy 
brethren, hke mito me: mrto him shall ye hearken/*' ° 
The prophet here promised was not Joshua, I\Ioses' 
successor in ofiB.ce ; for the historian who finished out 
the book of Deuteronomy after Moses' death, speaks 
of Joshua, and writes as a witness of his acts ; but he 
adds, ^- And there arose not a prophet since in Israel 
like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.*'' 
(The saying that the Lord knew Moses face to face, 
simply denotes that he granted to him the favor of a 
free and familiar intercourse, for the purposes of 
his calling.) Neither was this promised teacher 
either of the other prophets that came under the Old 
Testament dispensation. They all pointed on, beyond 
themselves, to the great Prophet and Teacher, Prince 
and Deliverer, that was to come. It was with regard 
to them, as it was said of John the Baptist, He was 
not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
Light.'** None of these prophets claimed to be the 
Messiah, but they all spake of him as being yet to 
come after them. 

The prophet Isaiah said much of the promised 
Prince of peace, and of his blessed reign. And his de- 
scriptions abound with surpassing eloquence. As an 
example, we will repeat one of the passages Avhich 
were quoted on the subject of the ISlessiali s judg77ie?2t. 
^' There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, 
and a Branch shall grow out of his roots : and the 
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of 
wisdom and understanding, the spirit rf knowledge, 
and of the fear of the Lord ; and shall make him quick 
of understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he 
shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither re- 



b Deut. xviii. 15. 



^ Deul. xxsiv. 10» 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



275 



prove after the hearing of his ears ; but with righteous- 
ness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for 
the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth 
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall 
be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle 
of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the 
calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and 
a little child shall lead them. ^ And in that day 
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for 
an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek, 
and his rest shall be glorious."^ 

It must, I think, be obvious to every mind, that 
this prophecy describes something more than a prophet 
and teacher like those who were then addressmg the 
people, — and one very unlike any of the conquerors 
whom the world had known. It describes one who 
was, like Moses, to combine the character of prophet 
and teacher, with that of lawgiver, ruler and judge. 
And he was to be a spiritual^ not a secular ruler. For 
it was to be with the rod of his mouthy and with the 
breath of his lips^ that he was to smite and slay the 
wicked. This denotes his moral power, the successful 
workings of his spirit of truth. He was to be a spir- 
itual King, and to estabhsh a spiritual kingdom. 
And the benefits of this kingdom were to extend unto 
all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews. 

Such prophecies are not the inventions of those 
Jewish leaders who spake them. They bear no re- 
semblance to the proud, selfish, partial, national Jew- 
ish spirit. Though uttered by Jews, they are seen to 
be the breathings of that wisdom of God, which is 

d Isa. xi. 1—10. 



276 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and 
without hypocrisy/' They describe a Messiah, to be 
alike the Friend and Deliverer, the Salvation and 
Glory, of Gentiles and Jews. This is a remarkable 
characteristic of all the Scripture prophecies of Christ, 
and a strong internal evidence that they are not Jewish 
forgeries, but the teachings of Him who is the God 
of all. 

II. But it is the more particular design of the pres- 
ent chapter, to elucidate the fact that the Christ of the 
New Testament is this promised Messiah of the Old. 
And in the prosecution of this design, we shall simul- 
taneously carry out the subject of the foregoing re- 
marks, the looking forward of the prophets to the 
ONE who was to come. 

1st. The time of his combing is that which had been 
variously designated by Moses and the prophets. This 
time had been described, both by the numbering of the 
intervening periods, and by connecting it with a variety 
of other great events ; events, the simultaneous occur- 
rence of which it would be the weakest credulity to 
admit that human sagacity could have foreseen, and 
imagination have conceived of 

There is a wonderful designation of the time of 
Christ's coming, by description of the intervening 
periods of time between it and another event, as re- 
corded by the prophet Daniel.^ From the going forth 
of the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- 
salem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven 
weeks, and three-score and two weeks;'' i. e. sixty- 
nine weeks. And then there was to be one week in 
which for him to finish his work; making in all 
seventy weeks, to finish the transgression, and 

<^ Dan. ix. 24—27. 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



277 



make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for 
iniquity, — and to anoint the most Holy :" — or, in other 
words, for sealing and establishing that covenant as a 
moral system, which, by its efficient energies, shall 
make an end of evil. 

With regard to the reckoning of prophetic time, 1 
adopt no enigmatical rule. I receive the record of 
time by the prophets as by other writers, days for days, 
and weeks for weeks, unless in any particular case 
they inform me that they use one period as the sign 
of another. And so I understand this seventy weeks, 
taking the word weeks as it is in the original, where it 
is sevens. It is not the word which is used for weeks, 
but it is literally sevens. '-Seventy sevens are deter- 
mined upon thy people." Now to take this in its most 
literal sense, we must understand the word sevens to 
apply to the most noted and natural divisions of time, 
especially when mentioned in reference to great and 
important events. Such most noted and natural di- 
visions are years. Each one of each of the sevens^ 
being taken for a year, it is seventy sevens of years, or 
four hundred and ninety years. And according to the 
accepted chronology, which cannot be far from the 
truth, Jesus Christ was offered upon the cross, and thus 
made a sin-otfering once for all, superseding the neces- 
sity of the daily sacrifices, in just four hundred and 
ninety years from the date of Artaxerxes' command- 
ment to Ezra, for the completing and beautifying of 
the temple, the reestablishment of the service of God, 
and the more perfect restoration of Jerusalem. There 
were other edicts, which had more particular reference 
to the rebuilding of the walls, &c. of the city ; but as 
this last, by Artaxerxes, related to the completion of 
the work and the full restoration of Jerusalem to its 
24 



278 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



religious privileges and blessings, the prophetic refer- 
ence in this case is sufficiently applicable. 

This is an agreernentj with wonderful exactness of 
time, between the event and the prophecy. But more 
wonderful, if possible, is the agreement in those cases 
ivhere the time of Messiah's coming is described by its 
connexion with other important, and in some instances 
miprobable events. Moses said, The sceptre shall 
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between 
his feet, until Shiloh come: and unto him shall the 
gathering of the people be." The word Shiloh signi- 
fies the Sent of God. This prophecy foretells the con- 
tinuance of regal authority in the tribe of Judah, until 
the Sent of God should come ; and involves the facts 
of the loss of this authority to Judah, and the coming 
of Shiloh, as simultaneous events. And it was so, 
taking Jesus for the promised Shiloh. Judea was 
made a Roman province about eleven years after the 
birth of Christ. Still some judicial authority was left 
among them in relation to some of their domestic con- 
cerns. But in the year 70, at an event by which the 
cause of Christ was more generally, and permanently 
established in the world, and which was called the 
coming of Christ in his kingdom^^''^ then the power of 
that people was utterly scattered, and the distinctness 
of the tribe of Judah was lost. So then the sceptre 
did remain with Judah until Jesus came; and then 
Judah fell. Is not Jesus then the promised Shiloh ? 

Again, it was foretold by the prophet Daniel, (chap 
ii.) that, succeeding the then present Chaldean mon- ! 
archy, there would be three universal monarchies, 
making in all, four; — and that in the time of the jl 
fourth and last universal earthly monarchy, the God | 



fMatt. xvi. 27, 28. 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



279 



of heaven would set up a kingdom which should 
never be destroyed. It will not be disputed that this 
indestructible kingdom is the kingdom of the promised 
Messiah, who was to reign in righteousness, and of the 
increase of whose government and peace there should 
be ho end. The setting up of his kingdom was of 
course to be at his coming : and this was to be in the 
time of the fourth universal monarchy. The Roman 
kingdom was the fourth universal monarchy on the 
earth, and probably the last; for it does not appear 
likely that there will ever be another. And it was in 
the time of the Roman monarchy, when Caesar Au- 
gustus was Emperor, that Jesus was born into the 
world. Is not Jesus, then, the incumbent of the throne 
of that kingdom, which the God of heaven should set 
up in the time of the fourth universal monarchy 7 

Again, with respect to the time of the promised 
Messiah, who should, by the virtues of his kingdom, 
constitute the proper Desire of all nations, Haggai pro- 
phesied (chap, ii.) that he should come while the 
second temple in Jerusalem should be standing, when 
that house should be filled with glory. Jesus did 
come, and teach in that temple his glorious truth. 
But that temple is now demolished ; the very founda- 
tions thereof have been ploughed up, and a Turkish 
mosque is reared on its ruins. Is not Jesus, then, that 
Desire of all nations, who should visit that second 
temple before its dissolution ? 

I might pursue this subdivision of my subject, but 
should exceed my limits. And enough has now 
been presented to show conclusively, that the time of 
Jesus' comiiig, is the time which the prophets had 
designated for the coming of the expected Messiah. 
The further you carry the examination of this depart- 



280 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



merit of the evidence of Christian truth, the more inter- 
esting it becomes. The great variety of ways whereby 
this time was designated, makes an examination of 
the subject the more satisfactory. It was to be in 490 
years from the going forth of the commandment to 
rebuild Jerusalem ; — it was to be about the time when 
the sceptre should depart from Judah ; it was to be in 
the time of the fourth and last universal earthly mon- 
archy ; it was to be while the second temple in Jeru- 
salem should be standing. And at the point of time 
where all these events and circumstances, which the 
prophets had foretold, not only at sundry times, but in 
such diverse manners, and on such various occasions, 
as evince that they were not copying each other : 
I say, at the point of time where all these events and 
circumstances converge and centre, Christ Jesus came 
into the world. And such was the understanding of 
the prophets by the Jews themselves, that they were 
looking for their Messiah to come about that time. 
When they were suffering their tribulations in that 
same age, they were easily induced to follow almost 
any artful impostor who rose up pretending to be the 
Messiah. But the claims of all these pretenders were 
exploded, almost as soon as they were put forth. Not 
so with Jesus. He came at the time appointed ; and 
his name is enduring as the sun. Is not this the 
Christ? 

2d. The Christ of the New Testament, who came 
at the designated time^ appears also in the personal 
character ascribed to the expected Messiah by the pro- 
phets. Unlike the character which the sentiments of 
the world would associate with princely greatness in a 
royal personage, the Messiah was to come, though in a 
glory surpassing that of all the kings of the earth, yet in 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



281 



meekness and lowliness, humility and love. His great- 
ness Avas to be a moral greatness : his glory was to be 
the splendor of his doctrines, the majesty of his good- 
ness. For a sublime description of this trait in his 
character and mission, listen to another passage from 
the evangelical prophet. ^-For he shall grow up be- 
fore him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry 
ground, he hath no form nor comehness. * ^ He is de- 
spised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our 
faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed 
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and car- 
ried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, 
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded 
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniqui- 
ties ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep 
have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his OAvn 
way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of 
as all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet 
he opened not his mouth : he is brought as a lamb 
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is 
dumb, so he opened not his mouth. ^ He was cut oif 
out of the land of the living, for the transgression of 
my people was he stricken. He had done no violence, 
neither was any deceit in his mouth. When thou 
shall make his soul (his life) an offering for sin, he 
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the 
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He 
shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied ; by 
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify (the) 
many; for he shall bear their iniquities.''- 



g Lsa. liii. 

24* 



283 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



So precisely does this prophecy describe the charac- 
ter which Jesus did indeed bear, that if we had not 
the indubitable evidence that this was published hun- 
dreds of years before the coming of Christ, we might 
reasonably have indulged the suspicion that it was a 
narrative written after the fact. 

His being said to be without form or comeliness^ does 
not refer to bodily deformity, but to the meanness of 
his birth, the humbleness of his life, and the character 
of his teachings, — all being unlike that which would 
attract the gaze and admiration of the world. 

He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
griefs^ bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. 
The wanderings and the sufferings of mankind were 
observed and felt by him. He wept with the weeping, 
and mourned with the sorrowful, and had compassion 
on the ignorant and on them who were out of the way. 
^'When John, being cast into prison, heard of the 
works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and 
asked him, saying. Art thou he that should come 1 or 
do we look for another? Jesus answered and said 
unto them. Go and show John those things which ye 
do hear and see ; how that the blind receive their 
sight, and the lame walk ; the deaf hear, and the lepers 
are cleansed; the dead are raised up, and the poor 
have the gospel preached unto them."^ This answers 
to the prophetic description, which Jesus read in the 
meeting of Jewish priests and people in the syna- 
gogue of Nazareth, and applied to himself: ^'The 
spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath an- 
ointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath 
sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- 
auQe to the captives, and recovery of sight to the 



hMatt. xi. 2—5. 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



283 



blindj to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach 
the acceptable year of the Lord." ' 

It is recorded in the 8th of Matthew, that they 
brought unto him many that were possessed of de- 
mons ; and he cast out the spirits with his word, and 
healed them that were sick ; that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Him- 
self took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." 
Surely then he bore the griefs and carried the sorrows 
of men. And though he was despised and rejected 
of men," who hunted him as beasts of prey, for his life, 
yet he was gentle and forgiving, and his tears flowed 
in sympathy even for the sufierings of his enemies. 
^' When he was reviled he reviled not again; when he 
suff'ered he threatened not ; but committed himself to 
him that judgeth righteously." 

Thus while Jesus taught the doctrine of forgiveness 
and love, overcoming cruelty with kindness, and evil 
with good, he faithfully and constantly practised the 
same. And Avhen he had spent his allotted time 
on earth in labors of love, and was seized by a band 
of rufiians, dragged to a mock trial, and adjudged to a 
shameful death, he was still meek and forbearing. And 
knowing the fixed intent of his persecutors, and that 
any argument of his in support of his divine commis- 
sion would be seized and bandied by them as proof of 
his blasphemy, he was passive in their hands, and 
contradicted not their falsehoods. Herein was ful- 
filled the prophetic saying before quoted, ^'He was 
oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ; 
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not 
his mouth." 



iLuke iv. 16—22. 



2S4 C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

This prophecy goes on to show that the promised 
One whom it describes would be put to death by the 
wickedness of his persecutors ; being taken from prison 
and from judgment, and cut off from the land of the 
living, because he had done no violence, and there 
was no deceit in his mouth, — and bemg smitten for 
the transgressions of the people. And when his life 
should have been made an offering for sin, he was to 
live again : for he was then to see his seed, prolong his 
days, or his existence, and the pleasure of the Lord 
should prosper in his hand. 

All these things were foretold of the Messiah of the 
prophets : and they were fulfilled in the Christ Jesus 
of the New Testament. And see, on the cross, how 
he carried out the principles of love, unconquerable 
love, which he taught and practised in his life. He 
was surrounded by his murderers, who were deriding 
him in his agonies inflicted by themselves : and yet 
he lifted his e3^es and his voice to the King eternal, 
and in the majesty of his love he cried, — Father, for- 
give them." 

Then this mighty Prince of peace, when he had 
prayed for his persecutors, and commended his spirit to 
the Father, meekly bowed his head and died. He was 
laid in a new tomb : and the chief priests and Phari- 
sees, recollecting that he had said he should rise from 
the dead on the third day, went to Pilate, and pro- 
cured a strong guard to be placed upon the sepulchre, 
that the disciples might not steal away his body, and 
report that he had risen. But on the morning of the 
third day from his crucifixion, Jesus arose from the 
state of death, and shov»^ed himself unto his disciples. 
He .tarried with them a sufficient length of time to 
confirm to them the truth of his resurrection, and to 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 285 

order and establish the affairs of his spiritual king- 
dom, and he was then borne hence into the invisible 
world, to reign in his mediatorial kingdom, until all 
things should be subdued unto him^ or, as the prophet's 
language has it, until he shall see of the travail of his 
soul and be satisfied, 

I might multiply the comparisons on this point to a 
much greater extent, — the comparisons, I mean, between 
the prophecies of the Old Testament and the history of 
the New. But the fact shines clearly in what has now 
been presented, that the Christ of the New Testament, 
who came at the designated time^ appears also in the 
personal character ascribed to the expected Messiah 
by the prophets. And my closing remarks under this 
head, have also run into an observation of the fulfil- 
ment of the prophecies concerning the death and the 
resurrection of the promised One, in what actually 
took place with the blessed Son of Mary. 

3d. There is a third view in which the Christ of 
the New Testament is seen to be the Messiah of the 
Old, viz., in his official character. The promised Mes- 
siah of Moses and the prophets was to bruise the ser- 
pent's head, or make an end of the evil unto which 
the human race have become subject ; he was to make 
blessed all nations and families of the earth ; he was 
to be a commissioned servant of God, endowed with 
his spirit, to be light to the blind, deliverance to the 
captives, salvation to the Gentiles, and the redemption 
and glory of Israel. He was to subdue the wicked 
with the breath of his lips and the rod of his mouth, — 
the word of his truth and grace. He was to be em- 
phatically the Pidnce of peace ; and of the increase of 
his government and peace there was to be no end. Or, 
in other words, it should extend, until it should en- 



286 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



circle all. For there was to be given him dominion and 
glory and a kingdom, that all nations and kindreds 
should serve him ; and his kingdom should never be 
destroyed, nor his dominion have an end.^ And as he 
was to be a sin offering for those whom he should 
subdue and redeem, it was said by the prophet that 
he should hear the iniquities of its alL 

In the same official character, or characters rather, 
is Jesus presented in the New Testament. As 3. jv-iest 
he is said to have made a sin-offering for the people ; 
'^not by the blood of bulls and of goats, but by his 
own blood, he hath entered once into the holy place, 
having obtained eternal redemption for us.'* * There 
is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, 
the man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for 
all, to be testified in due time." We see Jesus, who 
was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffer- 
ing of death, crowned with glory, and honor, that he by 
the grace of God should taste death for every man.'' 
^•And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for 
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." ^ 

As a King, '-He is exalted far above all prin- 
cipality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
every name that is named, not only in this world, but 
also in that which is to come.""" '-God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name that is 
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 
of God the Father."'' For he must reign till he hath 
put all enemies under his feet. Then will he deliver 



j Dan. vii. 13, 14. k Heb. ix. 12. 1 1 John ii. 2. 

mEph. i. 20j 21. "Phil. ii. 9—11. 



CHRIST THE MESSIAH FORETOLD. 



287 



up the kingdom to the Father, having put down all 
rule and all authority and power. And the last enemy- 
shall be destroyed, (which is) death.'' ° 

How instructive is the study of the sacred Volume ! 
How rich is the knowledge it yields ! When we pore 
over the statutes, and the histories, and the diversi- 
fied teachings, of the ancient chosen people, and see 
interspersed, at sundry times and in divers manners, 
the sweet prophetic breathings of promise and hope for 
the perfect One to come, the creation's Desire ; and 
then we turn our minds to the history of Jesus, the 
Christian's chosen Master, — our glad hearts leap up, 
and we exclaim in the language of the admiring 
Philip, We have found him of wJiom Moses in the 
law and the prophets did write^ 

o 1 Cor. XV. 24—26. 



CHAPTER XI. 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY* 

The truth of Christianityj as a revealed system of 
religious hope, is involved in the truth of the Evan- 
gelical history. This history records the life, the super- 
human works, and the death of Jesus Christ, and his 
resurrection from the dead as the first fruits of them 
that slept, the hope of human kind. Give to this his- 
tory, or to all there is peculiar to it, the character of 
legends and forgeries,— and you relinquish all tangible 
hold upon Christianity as such, and draw again over 
our mortal vision, the impenetrable vail of heathen 
darkness. With all that candor, then, which becom- 
eth children, made after the image of God, we will in- 
quire into the credibility of the Gospel Records, and 
truth of the Christian system. 

I. And here in the outset we will premise, that the 
truth of Christianity is in the nature of things probable. 
We are not, therefore, to be predisposed to discredit 
good evidence in its favor. We are rafher to prepare 
our minds for giving all evidence its due weight, in the 
spirit of St. Paul's appeal for the witnesses of Jesus, 
'•Why should it be thought a thing incredible with 
you that God should raise the dead?" 

When we consider man, his intellectual powers and 
faculties, whereby he calculates and weighs causes and 
effects, beholds the beauty of order, and traces the foot- 
steps of design in all the works of nature, visits the 
revolving planets, strides among the stars, and behold- 
ing all above, beneath and around, admires the wisdom, 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



289 



and adores the benevolence of the Creator, and claims 
to him the high relationship of children^ — we are 
incited to inquire ; — just as he begins to be, — ^just as 
he begins to look around, — just as he begins to soar, — 
and has tasted enough of life and knowledge to make 
him pant for more, — must he fall back into nonentity? 
Must he be plunged into eternal night ? Most gloomy- 
thought! And a thought as unreasonable as it is 
gloomy. 

It is unreasonable to suppose that the infinitely wise 
and benevolent Creator has so constituted any grade 
of creatures, as that they shall possess important, even 
constitutional wants, infinitely beyond what he has 
made provision to meet. The wisdom and perfection 
of God's works in creation and providence, consist in 
the correspondence and harmony of all its parts, and 
the exact adaptation of everything to its proper end. 
If you look into the brute creation, you will see the 
form of the body, limbs, claw, tooth or beak, of every 
animal, exactly adapted to the procuring of that kind 
of food which its nature requires, and not a constitu- 
tional want but what finds a provision made to meet 
it. And it is fair to conclude, that, if the all-wise 
Creator had designed to limit the whole sphere of 
man's existence to a few moments here on earth, he 
would have given him such a constitution of mind as 
well as body, as that the productions of the earth 
would yield him satisfaction. He would not have 
made us so, that when we have health of body, and 
all riches and comforts w^hich earth affords, we should 
feel an aching void within the breast, unsatisfied and 
unfilled, — an earnest reaching forward for lasting good 
to come, which never can be met but by a hope of 
immortality. 

25 



290 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Again, when you look into the natural world, you 
see everything, every species of brutes and plants, 
come up to a state of maturity. Every species, as a 
whole, seems to answer its destined end. The tender 
plant comes up, until it becomes a perfect herb or tree, 
according to its kind. Nothing can be discovered in 
its structure, which shows it to tend to any higher 
state, or bespeaks a design for any higher end than it 
fully answers here. Not so with man. Consider him 
as an intellectual being. Consider his ability and 
disposition to acquire knowledge, and his growing 
thirst for it as he advances in it. And yet in this re- 
spect he brings nothing to perfection here, — comes up 
to no fixed standard of perfect knowledge. The mind 
is but a tender shoot, when the winter of death invari- 
ably comes upon it. (Such species of plants always 
live and flourish again in the succeeding spring.) 
Even the comparatively learned and philosophical 
Newton, felt conscious of being such an infant in knowl- 
edge, that he considered himself as a little child picking 
up pebbles on the shore of the great ocean of philosophy. 

Since, then, the human mind only enters at most 
upon the threshold, upon the first rudiments of that 
knowledge, for which it appears to be formed, and in 
which it tends to advance; since it neyer, in this 
world, but just tastes enough of knowledge and happi- 
ness to make it pant, and show fqrth its capacity, for 
more, — the dictates of reason are, that man is yet to 
live ; that he is to resmne his studies in another state 
of being, and progress in that knowledge, for which the 
constitution of his mind is so wonderfully adapted. 

It is owing to this feature of the human mind of 
which I speak, that the nations of the earth in general, 
even the savage tribes of the wilderness, have cher- 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



291 



ished expectations of another life. Without the light 
of revelation, they have formed various and some ex- 
travagant notions of that future state ; but the wants 
and tendencies of the human mind have induced them 
to seek relief from present pains and troubles, in look- 
ing forward to another and a better life. 

" The soul, uneasy and confined from home, 
Rests and expatiates in a life to come. 
Lo, the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind j 
His soul proud science never taught to stray 
Far as the solar walk, or milky way ; 
Yet simple nature to his hope has given, 
Behind the cloud-topt hills, an humbler heaven ; 
Some safer world in depths of wood embraced, 
Some happier island in the watery v/aste ; 
Where slaves once more their native land behold. 
No thieves torment, nor Christians thirst for gold." 

That this reasonable hope of future existence will be 
answered, does not, even in the nature of things, 
appear either impossible or improbable. The doctrine of 
the resurrection is no more mysterious than many things 
with which we are acquainted. Indeed, there is no 
more mystery in it than there is in everything we see. 
Our own present existence, which we do not pretend 
to dispute, is as mysterious as the resurrection from 
the slate of the dead. 

II. But I will proceed to consider the nature, and 
the manner, of the transactions which the New Testa- 
ment records as the basis of its claim of Messiahship 
for Jesus, and as the ground of Christian hope. 

When we have come to indulge some trembling 
hope, through the reasonings of our own minds, it 
crowns our desire with a happy assurance^ to find ex- 
ternal evidence on which to rely. Especially on so 



292 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



deeply interesting and vastly important a subject as 
the one before us, it would give us unspeakable hap- 
piness to receive tangible proof, to convert our travail 
of soul into the assurance of hope. 

Now if the Lord would show us one raised from 
death to life, whom we know to have been dead, we 
should receive it as sufficient external evidence of 
this glorious doctrine. But would it be necessary 
that we should see such an instance ourselves? 
This would be to say that, in order to keep the doc- 
trine established in the world, it is necessary that the 
Lord should continue raising men in every country, 
and in every neighborhood, and in every age^ so that 
every individual should be witness of it. And this 
would be turning out of employment that investigation 
of evidence, which improves the mind, and by which 
it is well that we should come into the truth. We 
will not be so unreasonable as this. If we can find 
account of some one person, a person of notoriety, who 
has been dead, and raised again to life, as a sample 
of the human race ; and if we can find this account as 
well authenticated as many histories which we have 
of past events, — we will be satisfied with it as a good 
proof of the doctrine of a future hfe. 

Well, we have a book put into our hands, containing 
such an account, — and, I think, even better attested 
than any history which we have, relating events that 
transpired in ages past. I have the book now before 
me. It gives an account of one Jesus, called the 
Christ, sent from God on an important errand, on a 
divine commission. It is said that he is the Light of 
men, and came to be the Saviour of the world. He 
was so extraordinary a personage, and bent on so 
gracious an errand, that an angel from heaven came 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



293 



and thus proclaimed his advent; — '^Behold, I bring 
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all 
people." And a multitude of the heavenly host, in 
view of the result of his glorious mission, came down 
to the shepherds' plains, and raised their joyful song, 

Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and 
good will towards men." 

He went on, and proved that he was sent of God, 
and endowed with divine authority and power, by 
a long series of miracles. He made the blind to see, 
the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, 
and the dead to live. These things appear well at- 
tested and faithfully recorded, and the miracles were 
generally performed in such a manner, and under such 
circumstances, as not to admit of deception. 

Let us take, for instance, the case of the man born 
blind, restored to sight. This was not done in an ob- 
scure corner, and a person reported to have been re- 
stored to sight, of whom no one knew whether he was 
ever blind or not. It was done at Jerusalem, and 
upon a person well known there. The neighbors, 
and they who had seen the man who was born 
bhnd, said, ^'Is not this he that sat and begged? 
Some said, This is he; others said. He is like him: 
but he said, I am he." Then they brought him to the 
Pharisees, who also asked him how he had received his 
sight. And he told them. But they hoped it might 
not be made to appear that he had ever been blind. 
So they called the parents of him that had received his 
sight, And they asked them saying, Is this your son, 
who you say was born blind? How then doth he 
now see? His parents answered. We know that this 
is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what 
25^ 



294 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



means he now seeth, we know not : he is of age, ask 
him : he shall speak for himself" 

" Then again they called the man that had been 
blind, and said, Give God the praise ; we know that 
this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether 
he be a sinner or no, I know not ; one thing I know, 
that whereas I was blind, now I see." But they were 
still in perplexity. ^'They asked him again, What 
did he unto thee? How opened he thine eyes'?" 
With boldness and good sense he answered them, ^^I 
have told you already." And on his reasoning with 
them to show that so good a deed could not have 
come, as they insinuated, from a bad spirit, they re- 
viled him and cast him out. 

There is no need of multiplying cases to show that 
the miracles of Jesus were known among his enemies 
as well as among his friends. This was generally the 
case. His eniemies did not dispute that he wrought 
these wonders. They admitted the fact. But they 
charged him with doing these works through the 
agency of an evil spirit. It was as unreasonable, 
however, as it was malicious, to ascribe all these 
good works to an evil agency. 

Concerning the character of Christ, it is unimpeach- 
able. His doctrine bears the evidence of its being 
from above ; and his instructions are delivered with 
a majesty well becoming a divine Teacher. Every- 
thing we can see in all his life, — in his works, and 
in his doctrines,- — appears totally opposite to what 
might be expected from an impostor, aiming at his 
own aggrandizement. 

But the prejudices of the Jews against him are 
strong ; at the spread of his doctrine they are much 
alarmed ; and they resolve to get him out of the way. 



TRTJTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



295 



—They seize him,— drag him before the magistrates, 
— where he is hastily and maliciously condemned. 
They send him up to a higher tribunal ; Pilate, the 
judge, examines him, and is persuaded of his inno- 
cence. But he is intimidated by the magistrates, and 
delivers him up into their hands. They crucify and 
bury him ; — seal the sepulchre, and set their own 
watch upon it. A short time after, and even before 
the very magistrates who condemned him, it is boldly 
published that Jesus, whom they had crucified, is 

RISEN FROM THE DEAD*! 

Is there any evidence against this ?— What say the 
strong guard, which were placed upon the sepulchre 
on purpose to prevent imposition ? Do they come 
forward and show that the body of Jesus remained 
in the sepulchre beyond the time he had set for his 
rising? No. They make mention of the wonders 
which took place at the set time ; and all Jerusalem 
knows that the body was then gone from the tomb: 
but the soldiers are hired to say, that Jesus' disciples 
stole away his body while they were asleep. 

Let us examine this testimony, the only testimony 
which pretends to account for the absence of Jesus 
from the tomb, without admitting his resurrection. 
How did they know that the disciples carried away 
their Masters body? Answer: Because they were 
asleep when it was done. Such testimony is not 
admissible ; for then they knew nothing, and of 
course, their witness is nothing. 

But how incredible is it that the watch did all 
fall asleep. As we should naturally suppose, under 
such an excitement, every precaution was taken to 
prevent deception concerning Jesus' rising from the 



296 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



dead; for they knew that he had said he should 
rise again on the third day. 

Therefore, the chief priest and Pharisees came to- 
gether unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that 
deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days 
I will rise again. Command therefore, that the sepul- 
chre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples 
come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the 
people, He is risen from the dead : so the last error 
shall be worse than the first.'' — Under these circum- 
stances, we cannot doubt that Ihey placed upon the 
sepulchre such a guard, that, under the dreadful re- 
sponsibility in which their laws placed such guards, 
there was no danger of their all at once falling 
asleep. 

And, on the other hand, such an undertaking as 
that of stealing away the body of Jesus, and reporting 
that he had risen from the dead, could hardly have 
been thought of by the disciples, with all theii tim- 
idity, and the views they had entertained. — First, as 
it respects their timidity. Not one of them had cour- 
age enough to stand by their Master when he was 
condemned to be put to death. Even Peter, who had 
been the most resolute, found his courage to fail. He 
thrice denied his Lord. How then would these poor 
cowardly fishermen have dared to risk themselves to 
get the body of Jesus away from a strong guard, in 
a time of such mad excitement? And second, as it 
respects the views they had entertained. They had 
been expecting that Jesus Avould build up a powerful 
kingdom in this world, and redeem Israel from the 
Roman yoke. Their thoughts did not rise above tem- 
poral things. '^We trusted," said they, **that it had 

a Matt, xxvii. 63, 64. 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



297 



been he which should have redeemed Israel." Such 
being their views, we can find nothing to favor a sus- 
picion, that the disciples would have wished to steal 
ii ^way his body, even if they could safely have done 
so. For if they believed that God would raise him 
from the dead, they would rather choose to leave him 
as he Avas, that the power of God might be displayed 
and evinced before their adversaries. And if they did 
not expect that he would rise again, all their hopes of 
his restoring Israel were at an end ; for they could not 
expect to make his dead body king over Israel, if they 
had carried it away. Therefore, considering the views 
and expectations of the disciples of Jesus at that time, 
I can see no reason for the suspicion that they would 
have wished to steal away his body, if they had cour- 
age to undertake it. 

No wonder that the Jews suspected them of such a 
design ; for the progress of the cause of Christ, of the 
nature and design of which they were ignorant, had 
much alarmed them ; and when persons are under a 
high excitement of fear, they will imagine a thousand 
dangers. Their suspicions doubtless were, that the 
disciples of Jesus might think to steal away his body, 
and report that he had risen from the dead : — and that 
then they would put forward the most artful and 
active of their number, to personify him, and draw 
away the people after him as the Messiah, the one 
who had been crucified and raised from the dead, 
until sufiicient strength had been collected to seize on 
the reins of government. But such a plan, as it ap- 
pears, the disciples never thought of When they 
preached Jesus, that he had risen from the dead, they 
never presented any personage as a claimant of an 
earthly throne, nor did they seem to be pushing their 



298 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



efforts at all for promotion and power in the world. 
They had then learned that their Master's kingdom 
is not of this world. 

But it appears to have been so evident at that day 
that Christ was alive from the dead, that the Jews 
themselves had hardly boldness enough to dispute it. 
When Peter restored the lame man that sat at the 
gate of the temple, and the wondering multitude 
crowded around him, he addressed them on the sub- 
ject of the resurrection of Christ, as a matter against 
which he feared no argument. — Ye men of Israel, 
why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so ear- 
nestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness, 
we had made this man to walk ?— The God of your 
fathers hath glorified his Son Jesiis ; whom ye de- 
livered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, 
when he was determined to let him go."^ Though 
the priests and rulers were angry at such addresses, 
and were pricked at their hearts, yet they never 
encountered them with any formal argument. 

When Paul was brought before the rulers on trial 
for his doctrine, he stood up with confidence, bold- 
ness, and simplicity, and declared his conversation 
which he had held with Jesus, who had been cruci- 
fied, and raised again to life. "And the king," saith 
he, "knoweth these things, before whom I speak 
freely ; for I am persuaded that none of these things 
are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in 
a corner." And King Agrippa, by Paul's defence of 
his cause, was almost persuaded himself to be a 
Christian. What ! Notwithstanding the preaching 
of the resurrection of Christ had raised so great an 
excitement, and enraged the people in that coun- 



b Acts iii. 12, 13. 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



299 



try to so great a degree, had they no regular testi- 
mony against it? No. Their principal argument 
was, to call the witnesses of Jesus Satan's children, 
disturbers of the peace, and turners of the world 
upside down. 

But when the enemies of Christ had put him to 
death, and had him in their own hands, knowing that 
he had said that he should rise again on the third day, 
— and they had taken particular care, as we might sup- 
pose they would, to prevent any deception being prac- 
tised by his disciples, — if he did not rise as he had 
foretold, when the third day had passed, they would 
have produced the body, and the whole matter would 
have been set at rest. All the officers and people 
who had been concerned in the crucifixion of Jesus, 
—all these at least would have run together, and 
made themselves certain of the fact, that Jesus was an 
impostor. They would have shown to the world that 
he had not risen as he said, — that they had his body 
in their own possession. Then, if any had afterwards 
come forward, and reported that Jesus rose from the 
dead on the third day, abundant and regular proof 
would have been brought against them, and their bold 
and arrogant imposture would have been put down 
forever. But as it is, this is so far from being the 
case, that when a witness of Jesus' resurrection is 
brought to trial on account of his doctrine, there is no 
evidence against him ; and the king himself, who is 
on the side of the witness' enemies, and before whom 
he stands for judgment, openly declares to this minis- 
ter of Jesus, that he is almost persuaded to believe his 
testimony ! 

Indeed, after examining, by the strictest rules of 
criticism, the testimony of Christ's resurrection, I am 



I 



300 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

unable to conceive how we could have been furnished 
with more satisfactory evidence. Even if all the rulei^s 
and people of Israel had espoused the doctrine of his 
resurrection, it would not have been so evident as it 
now is to us. For then, as there would have been no 
opposition to it, \Ye should have had more room for 
suspicion that the whole affair was a mere fabrication, 
which the Jewish rulers had agreed to support from 
sinister motives. — But the opposition of the Jews, con- 
sidering the circumstances noticed under which they 
opposed, the kind of opposition, and the kind of suc- 
cess which it met with, tends to confirm the testimony 
of the Christian witnesses. 

III. But may it not be that this book, which bears 
such indubitable marks of truth, admitting it to have 
been written, and to record what was publicly and 
extensively preached, in the age to which it ascribes 
these events, is itself the fabrication of a later age 7 
That there never was such a man as Jesus Christ, 
making the excitement in the world which is here 
represented ; being crucified under the reign of Tibe- 
rius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of 
Judea; and being preached soon after as risen from 
the dead ? That there were not, shortly afterwards, 
churches formed in his name, at Rome, Corinth, 
Ephesus, <fcc., nor any such men as Paul, Peter, and 
others, visiting among such churches, and writing to 
them the letters which are herein contained? — May 
it not be that this book was wholly forged in some 
later age, and palmed upon the people as having been 
written in the age to which it assigns these events ? 

No. Such a supposition cannot be admitted for a 
moment. It does not bear sufficient marks of prob- 
ability, or even possibility^ to be adhered to by any 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 



301 



man of respectable discernment. Fix upon what time 
you will for the bringing forward of this forged book, 
say some time in the third century. This would be, 
of course, the origin of the sect who espouse the 
system it contains. I might rather say, it would be 
the origin of the system itself. Yet the book professes 
to have been written three centuries before; and it 
represents its cause and its converts as having been 
notorious, and extended throughout Judea, Jerusalem, 
Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, 
Thessalonica, and other countries, in that long passed 
age, — three centuries before the sect was ever heard 
of, or ever started in the world ! It is plain to be seen 
that the book must have destroyed itself the very day 
of its appearance. 

I can find no more reason to doubt there having 
been such a man as Jesus Christ, and that all these 
things herein stated were said and Avritten about him 
at the time they purport to have been, and by the 
persons to whom they are ascribed, — than I have for 
doubting that there was such an emperor as Tiberius, 
such a governor as Pilate, and such a king as Agrippa ; 
or that the works ascribed to Josephus were written 
by the man whose name they bear. 

That there was a person called Jesus Christ, the 
founder of the sect called Christians, who lived and 
w^as crucified at the time stated by the book before us, 
the New Testament, — and that shortly after, there 
were churches formed in his name, in Rome, and 
other places, Avhere Paul and other apostles are herein 
represented as having visited, preached, and written, 
— these things, I say, are supported by the testimony 
of our enemies. I will instance a quotation from 
Tacitus^ a celebrated Roman historian and pleader 
26 



302 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



under the reign of Domitian and Nerva^ whose reigns 
were between fifty and sixty-five years after the death 
of Christ. He wrote the work to which I refer, how- 
ever, five years after the death of Nerva, about seventy 
years from Christ's crucifixion. In giving an account 
of the setting of fire to Rome, by Nero, an event which 
took place about thirty years after the crucifixion, 
Tacitus writes thus: — "But neither these exertions, 
nor his largesses to the people, nor his offerings to the 
gods, did away the infamous imputation under which 
Nero lay, of having ordered the city to be set on fire. 
To put an end, therefore, to this report, he laid the 
guilt, and inflicted the most cruel punishment, upon a 
sect of people, who were held in abhorrence for their 
crimes, and called by the vulgar, Christians. The 
founder of that name was Christ, who suffered death 
in the reign of Tiberius, under his procurator Pontius 
Pilate. This pernicious superstition, thus checked for 
awhile, broke out again, and spread, not only over 
Judea, where the evil originated, but through Rome 
also, whither everything that is bad finds its way, 
and is practised." With what this writer says of the 
character of the Christian religion, we have no concern. 
It is not an hundredth part so strange that he was un- 
acquainted with the excellency of the system, and called 
it a pernicious error, as it is that some learned profes- 
sors of Christianity, in this day, should be almost totally 
ignorant of the doctrine we profess, except its name, 
and should call it a pernicious heresy. But this emi- 
nent heathen historian is good evidence, that the Chris- 
tian doctrine, after the crucifixion of Christ, started 
anew and with vigor in Judea, (just as the New Tes- 
tament writers represent,) and soon extended itself 
even unto Rome : — and that the author of this religion 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 303 

was the crucified Jesus, who also sufiered under Pon- 
tius Pilate. 

Finally, of the genuineness of the writings which 
we have in the New Testament, there is more evidence 
than of that of any other work of as early date. This 
is as it should be. The abundance of evidence should 
always correspond with the importance of the subject. 
This is truly the fact in the case before us. The his- 
torical books of the New Testament, in particular, by 
which I mean the four Gospels, and the Acts, are 
quoted and referred to as authentic and genuine, by a 
connected chain of Christian writers and commenta- 
tors, from some cotemporary with, or immediately suc- 
ceeding the apostles, down to the present time. But 
I have not room here to make quotations from them. 
I will barely say, that from the beginning there were 
but four Gospels mentioned as being relied upon as 
indisputably genuine, and they are the four which are 
embraced in our Scriptures. 

In short, we need no better evidence than we have, 
that the account which we have before us of the life, 
the doctrine, the death, and the resurrection of Christ, 
was written and made public in the same age and 
country to which these things are ascribed. And there 
is not to be found, against the resurrection of Christ, 
any better argument than the one before considered 
and found to be nothing, — that the disciples stole 
away the body while the guard were asleep. 

But why should the Jews have been such deter- 
mined enemies to Jesus ? Or why should they have 
persisted in declaring him an im.postor? They did 
not, as we have seen, deny the reality of the works 
v/hich the Gospels ascribe to him; but they charged 
his wonderful powers upon a confederacy with evil 



304 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

demons. Even Celsiis, in his work against Chris- 
tianity, written in the 2d century, admitted the mira- 
cles of Jesus, but, like his brethren of the Saviour's 
time, ascribed them to demoniacal agency. But why 
did they charge him with imposture? His life, suf- 
ferings and death, so exactly answered to the descrip- 
tion which their prophets had given of the expected 
Messiah, that, in reading the prophets, we should 
think, if we did not know to the contrary, that we were \ 
reading a narrative of Jesus written by a personal ac- ' 
quaintance. And they have indicated the time, too, 
with such precision, that the Jews generally were i 
looking for his advent as near. These prophetic books 
are held sacred by the Jews. Our enemies have been 
our Iib?'a7^ia7is, keeping for us the Scriptures, which 
point out the character, and the time of our Saviour. 

And he came at the time their prophets had foretold. 
But because they knew him not, neither the voice of 
their prophets, which were read every Sabbath day 
amongst them, they fulfilled them in condemning him. 
Though he came in the character which the prophets 
had described, yet it was not as their national pride 
and worldly ambition had pictured to themselves. 
But he disdained to play the impostor that he might 
gain their favor. He steadily pursued his heavenly 
Father's will. Through trials and persecutions, he 
labored in the cause of love and good will to men. 
He died on the cross, and was laid in the tomb. But 
noio is Christ risen f rani the dead^ and become the first 
fruits of theni that sleptP 

Since, then, God has kindly given us so good external 
evidence of that doctrine, which is so reasonable, and 
for which we have such real need, such constitutional 
want, we will gladly receive it for the satisfaction of 



TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 305 

our souls. Since Christ, the First Fruits, has come in, 
we will steadfastly look for the coming of the harvest. 
^'Though now we see him not, in him believing, we 
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiv- 
ing the end of our faith, even the salvation of our 
souls." 

26^ 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

For as in Adam all die ; even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 

XV. 22. 

In the preceding chapter, we examined some of the 
evidence touching the truth of the Gospel history. 
On the main facts recorded by this history, comprised 
in the writings of the New Testament, we ground, as 
Christians, our system of rehgious faith. In the said 
examination w^e did not take an extensive range of 
argument, for so we might have filled, with that single 
subject, an expensive volume. We restricted this de- 
partment of our labor to a few of the most direct, com- 
prehensive and conclusive arguments, available to the 
simplest and most illiterate reader. 

Among the important facts established by the record, 
are those of the crucifixion of Jesus, and his resurrec- 
tion from the state of death as the first-fruits of them 
that slept. Receiving Christ, then, in this relation to 
mankind, as alive from the dead, our own resurrection 
to a future life is a consequent truth. So does the 
apostle argue, in that portion of his writings from 
which I have taken my key -text and motto ^ at the head 
of this chapter. Having certified the fact of the resur- 
rection of Christ, he proceeds to argue the resurrection 
of all men in him. 

It appears, from the manner of his discourse in the 
commencement of the chapter, that there were some in 
Corinth who admitted the Messiahship and resurrec- 
tion of Christ, and yet denied the doctrine of the gen- 



THE RESURRECTION. 



307 



eral resurrection. ^^For I delivered into you first of 
all, that which I also received, how that Christ died 
for our sins according to the Scriptures ; and that he was 
buried, and that he rose again the third day according 
to the Scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, 
then of the twelve ; after that he wai5 seen of above 
five hundred brethren at once ; of whom the greater 
part remain unto this present, but some are fallen 
asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of the 
apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, 
as of one born out of due time. Now if Christ be 
preached that he rose from the dead, how say some 
among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is 
Christ not risen : and if Christ be not risen, then is our 
preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and 
we are found false witnesses of God ; because we have 
testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he 
raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." 

The apostle further shows them that they were, 
upon the whole, losers by professing the Christian 
name, if they were looking for nothing through Christ 
but temporal things. For the most valuable doctrine 
of the gospel of Christ, is that of a glorious imm^ortal- 
ity beyond the tomb. This answered to their wants, 
supported them under trials, gave them joy in afflic- 
tions, and a heaven on earth. 

While their spirits were cheered and animated by 
this blessed hope, and their hearts were warmed by 
the love of Christ, they could faithfully labor to dis- 
seminate this gospel, and bless mankind: — ai d what- 
ever were the persecutions, or external hardships they 
met with, they were yet the most happy of all men 
on earth. Their lively and exalted hope of immor- 



308 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



tality, was worth more than all temporal goods, or 
worldly ease. 

But if they hoped m Christ for nothing but temporal 
things, then their hope was worth no more than that 
of their unbelieving enemies. In that case, by openly 
professing the name of Christ, they subjected them- 
selves to those additional troubles and persecutions, 
without the advantage of that infinitely valuable hope 
of immortality, to more than counterbalance them. 

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become 
the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man 
came death, by man cam.e also the resurrection of the 
dead. For as in Adam all die^ even so in Christ shall 
all be made alive.'' 

It is the grand object of our present inquiries, to 
obtain a correct understanding of the Scriptural doc- 
trine of the resurrection. We must understand what 
the doctrine of the resurrection is, before we can know 
whether to rejoice, or to mourn, in contemplation of it. 
Paul does not, while dwelling on this subject, call 
upon the people to choose whether they will have 
endless happiness or endless misery, in the future 
state ; but he urges the doctrine of the resurrection, in 
opposition to the doctrine of 7io future existence — of 
perishing like the brutes. And to know whether to 
rejoice or to mourn on account of his doctrine, I must 
know whether that resurrection state which Christ 
has brought to light, is better or worse than no exist- 
ence at all. 

I shall perhaps look with the more care and dili- 
gence into this subject, on account of the views which 
many of the learned a^nd pious of my elder Christian 
brethren have entertained upon it. The views which 
they have held on man's immortal state, would render 



THE RESURRECTION. 



309 



the doctrine of the resurrection far more gloomy to me 
than that to which the apostle was engaged in oppos- 
ing it. YeSj even if I expected to share with the most 
favored class, I should never think on the subject of 
the resurrection, but with insupportable pain and an- 
guish of heart. My horrors would be as great, at 
least, as those expressed by Young, when he thus 
approaches the subject of his doctrine on the future 
state : — 

" Horrors beneath, darkness on darkness, hell 
Of hell, where torments behind torments dwell j 
A furnace formidable, deep and wide, 
O'er-boiling with a mad sulphureous tide. 
Expands its jaws, most dreadful to survey. 
And roars outrageous for the destined prey. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

" I faint, my tardy blood forgets to flow. 

My soul recoils at the stupendous woe ; 
That woe, those pangs, which from the guilty breast, 
In these, or words like these, shall be expressed : — 

Who burst the barriers of my peaceful grave ? 
Ah ! cruel death, that would no longer save. 
But grudged me e'en that narrow dark abode. 
And cast me out into the wrath of God ; 

Where shrieks the roaring flame, the rattling chain 
And all the dreadful eloquence of pain. 
Our only song ; black fire's malignant light 
The sole refreshment of the blasted sight." 

Such are the vivid colors, lurid with madness and 
horror, in which learned divines have portrayed the 
condition into which, they say, the resurrection shall 
introduce countless millions of our race. If I can be 
made to believe it, I will go sorrowing all my days. 
I make no appeal to the selfish principle here, — no 
allusion to the class into which I or you may fall. I 
speak as a member of the great intelligent family, to 



310 COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

whom existence is a thankless gift, unless it is on the 
whole a blessing, and around the whole circle of 
whom should flow the spirit of the royal law, ''Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself*' Who, in the 
exercise of this Christian spirit, even forgetting him- 
self as to his own allotment, would not regard as a 
calamity, a source of regret rather than of hope, the 
resurrection, as a whole, of the human family, in the 
light of those human doctrines ? 

Now the true Christian ''faith is the substance of 
things hoped for and by its influence upon the 
mind it produces '"joy unspeakable and full of glory.'* ^ 
Suppose there is a family who are living in the 
enjoyment of kind afl'ection, and of a common share 
of earthly good. But they have no hope of a life to 
come ; and when they think of death, as certain soon 
to sever those ties of love, and quench those intelli- 
gent spirits, forever— it fills their minds with dark- 
some gloom. A member of the loving group is sick 
unto death, and they are all sitting in melancholy 
mood, pondering upon their hopeless separation. A 
messenger enters their silent mansion, and professes 
to come with authority to assure them of another, 
and an endless life. They all start up from their 
seats with joyful surprise, and the very dying child 
rises up in his bed, to hear the full statement of the 
messenger. He proceeds to say, that they shall all 
be raised up from the sleep of death, into a life that 
shall never end ; — that one half of their number 
shall be placed upon seats of bliss, — and the other 
half plunged into a sea of liquid fire, looking up 
with a countenance distorted with agony, crying for 
the Power that made them, to strike them out of 

a Heb. xi. 1. 1 Peter i. 8. 9. 



THE REStTRRECTION. 



311 



being, and their cries answered with scalding volleys 
of increasing vengeance — forever ! Who could pic- 
ture the sad disappointment of the listening family ? 
Who could describe the more killing anguish, and 
the multiplied sorrows, of such as should believe the 
message? Their turning to this description of a 
future life, for relief from the gloomy thoughts of 
eternal sleep, is ''as if a man did flee from a lion, 
and a bear met him ; or went into the house, and 
laid his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.'" 
They would delight to go back, like the subjects of 
Jupiter in the fable, to their respective former allot- 
ments. 

I do not speak this, under an impression that our 
choice about these things can alter the purpose of 
God. I rejoice that it cannot ; — for I verily believe 
that the purpose of God is such, that, when rightly 
understood, every reasonable being must supremely 
prefer and admire it. But I have made these reflec- 
tions to induce you to a very strict and prayerful 
inquiry, whether the life and immortality which Jesus 
brought to light through his gospel, in a view of 
which saints of old. and angels in heaven rejoiced, 
is such^ that a benevolent heart must prefer to it, 
even as a whole, the darkness of eternal non-exist- 
ence for the race. 

Upon this grand subject of inquiry, involving the 
value of the resurrection to man, we are now pre- 
pared to advance. And in pursuit of our object, we 
will methodically consider the key-text we have 
chosen ; and, in connection with it, we will avail 
ourselves of the light of the context, and of the 
general Scripture teachings on the subject. 

c Amos V. 9. 



312 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



1st. ''As ill Adam all die." Let it be here ob- 
served, that the apostle does not say, ''As in Adam 
all died^'^ six thousand years ago ; — -alluding, as some 
have understood it, to the total fall and corruption of 
human nature in the first transgression. But, ''As in 
Adam all die,-^ He speaks in the present tense, im- 
plying a sense in which all are noio in Adam. Is 
there any sense in which mankind are, universally, 
in Adam 7 We are m Adam by an inheritance of 
the Adamic or earthy nature. We are in the image 
of the earthy man. The apostle so explains it after- 
wards in the same chapter. '* The first man is of the 
earth earthy ; the second man is the Lord from hea- 
ven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are 
earthy ; and as is the heavenly, such are they also 
that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image 
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
heavenly." 

In this earthy man, or in the image of the earthy, 
as exhibited in the first Adam, "all die." We are 
all partakers of mortality and death." "All flesh is 
grass, and the glory of man is as the flower of grass." 
" Man Cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down, — he 
dieth, and wasteth away." 

2d. "Even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
When you carefully consider here the apostle's antith- 
esis^ his putting our participation of life in Christ, 
over against our participation of mortality and death 
in Adam, the sentiment clearly expressed is this, — 
that we shall then be in Christ "even so," or in the 
same sense in which we are now in xldam ; that we 
shall inherit his state and nature : — 'that Christ will 
be as properly the '^Head of every man" in the 
resurrection state, as Adam is reckoned to be in this ; 



THE RESURRECTION. • 



313 



— that we shall not only be immortal like him, but 
possessed of the same moral nature, governed by the 
same moral principles. 

But Paul does not leave us to gather this important 
sentiment alone from an observation of his antithesis^ 
in the text. Though it is clearly involved in this, to 
one who duly considers it, — yet he proceeds directly 
and distinctly to declare this essential fact in the 
character of the immortal state. This explanation 
follows the text: — ''But every man in his own 
order : Christ the First-fruits ; afterwards they that 
are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
God, even the Father ; when he shall have put 
down all rule, and all authority and power. For he 
must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his 
feet. The last enemy shall be destroyed, death. 
For he hath put all things under his feet. But 
when he saith, All things are put under him, it 
is manifest that he is excepted who did put all 
things under him. And when all things shall be 
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself 
be subject to him that put all things under him, 
that God may be all in all." 

From this we learn, Jirst^ that at the resurrection, 
men will not only be immortal, but also subject to 
Christ ; — that then will take place the ultimatum of 
the gospel plan ; and Christ, having accomplished his 
work, and subjected all to his blessed reign, will 
deliver up the kingdom to God the Father. And, 
second^ that the all things which are to be subjected 
to Christ, comprehend all beings excepting God, who 
put all things under him. And also, third^ that the 
sense in which all are to be subject unto Christ, is 
27 



314 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

the same as that in Avhich he will be subject to God 
the Father; consisting in a willing and reverential 
submission, and a oneness of mind and character. 
For when Paul speaks of the subjection of Christ to 
the Father, in connection with the subjection of all 
things to Christ, he must have expressed a common 
meaning by the word subjection^ or else there is no 
harmony in the sentence. This blessed sense in 
which the human family is to be subjected to Christ, 
had been clearly expressed in the same epistle, in 
the 11th chapter. '^But I would have you to know 
that the head of every man is Christ ; and the head 
of the woman is the man ; and the Head of Christ 
is God." 

After having thus connected with the resurrection 
this important subjection to Christ, this oneness of 
mind with him, — and then considered some foolish 
questions of his opposers relating to the bodies with 
which the dead should be raised, the apostle resumes 
again his discourse on the character of the immortal 
state. ^'One star differeth from another star in glory. 
So also is the resurrection of the dead." — -That is, as 
God has made many different kinds of bodies, and 
has made some stars to differ from other stars in 
glory, so also will he make us in the resurrection 
state to be different from what we are in the present. 
^^So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown 
in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown 
in dishonor ; it is raised in glory : it is sown in weak- 
ness ; it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body ; 
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is 
written. The first man, Adam, was made a living 
soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 



THE RESURRECTION. 



315 



Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but 
that which is natural; and afterwards that which is 
spiritual." — Here follow the three verses which were 
quoted to the subject of dying in Adam. They are 
further explanatory of the text, showing the sense in 
which we are in Adam, and in which Ave shall be 
in Christ. '-The first man is of the earth, earthy; 
the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is 
the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and 
as is the heavenly, such are they also that are hea- 
venly. And as we have borne the image of the 
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the hea- 
venly." 

Further he says, ^-This corruptible must put on 
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortal- 
ity. So when this corruptible shall have put on 
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying 
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 
This saying Paul quoted from the prophet Isaiah : — 

He v/ill swallow up death in victory, and the Lord 
God will wipe away tears from ofi" all faces." 
Hence it appears that the immortal state is free 
from all cause of pain and sorrow, so that when 
death is swallowed up in victory, tears will be wiped 
away from off* all faces. The whole resurrection is 
like the First-fruits. Now is Christ risen from the 
dead, and become the Firsi-friiits of them that slept." 
And the same writer lays it down as a theological 
axiom, '"If the first-fruits be holy, the kimp is also 
holy." 

The same is the doctrine which Jesiis taught, with 
great plainness, concerning the resurrection state. In 

d Isa. XS.V. 8. 



316 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



controversy with the Sadducees, who say there iS no 
resurrection, Jesus said, (Matt. xxii. 29, 30.) ''Ye do 
greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power 
of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry 
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of 
God in heaven." Here the whole subject of the resur- 
rection is before them ; — the question is, whether the 
human species are to live again after death. The 
Sadducees say, no. And they now bring a case of a 
woman who had seven husbands, in order to present 
some difficulty in the way of the regulation of society 
in the future state. They do not appear to conceive 
any question, but that, according to Jesus' doctrine of 
the resurrection, the woman, and the seven men who 
had been her husbands, would all live again, and all 
in the same world^ as much as they did on earth. 

And Jesus, in his answer, did not undertake to de- 
scribe how that probably a part of the persons they 
spoke of would be howling in infinite torments, and 
the others rejoicing over them; — nor did he undertake 
to frighten them into a profession of the doctrine of 
the resurrection, by telling them that they would find 
it true when it would be too late for them to be bene- 
fited by it. No : — He answers with a dignity well 
becoming a divine teacher: ''Ye do greatly err, not 
knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For 
in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given 
in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven.'' 
And then, in support of the doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion, he refers them to their own Scriptures, where 
God spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, long after 
their death, in such a manner as recognized them still 
in existence, or destined yet to live. Here the fact is 
distinctly stated, that the resurrection state is, without 



THE RESURRECTION. 



317 



any limitation or reserve, as the state of the angels of 
God in heaven. 

Jesus is represented as declaring this sentiment with 
equal plainness, in Luke xx. 35, 36: — ''But they 
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, 
and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor 
are given in marriage : neither can they die any 
more; for they are equal unto the angels; and are the 
children of God, being the children of the resurrec- 
tion." 

Jesus leaves no room for the notion that there will 
be an immortal state, in which men will continue in 
sin and shame, the characteristic children of the 
Avicked one. ''They," without distinction, ^'they 
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain the resur- 
rection from the dead, shall be equal unto the angels; 
and are the children of God, being the children of the 
resurrection." 

Hence it is certain, that if there are any who will 
not become sharers of a glorious and happy immortal- 
ity, being children of God, — they will never be raised 
at all into an immortal state. For the gospel reveals 
no other. There is a sect of Christians, sometimes 
called annihilatiojiists^ who believe there are some 
such, — some who will never be raised again from the 
dead. And they have used the Scripture last quoted 
as favoring their views. They have laid particular 
emphasis on the word, worthy. " They which shall be 
accounted worthy to obtain the resurrection from the 
dead." This they have considered to apply exclu- 
sively to a particular class, whose virtues entitle them 
to an immortal state of being, as a just reward. 

But an attention to the general doctrine of the gos- 
pel, and a due consideration of the several records 
27^ 



318 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



made of this same discourse of our Lord to the Sad- 
ducees, will expose the incorrectness of this opmion. 
Though this doctrine is not a millionth part so appal- 
ling as that popular doctrine which we quoted from 
Young, yet its glory is not worthy to be compared 
with that of the gospel. Jesus Christ and his apostles 
urge the doctrine of suitable rewards and punishments, 
pending the conduct of men ; but they never give 
out the idea, that a future immortal state of existence 
is either to be bought or sold by the doings of men in 
time. If such had been the sentiment which Jesus 
expressed to the Sadducees ; if the word worthy was 
applied to the moral desert of men, as procuring for 
themselves a resurrection state, — then this would cer- 
tainly have been the most important word in the 
whole conversation. It would have contained a point 
in the doctrine of the resurrection, which every faith- 
ful witness would have kept foremost^ whenever he 
spoke or wrote on the subject. 

But of the three Evangelists who have recorded this 
discourse of Jesus, two have not used the word worthy 
at all. Matthew writes, ^'For in the resurrection— 
they are as the angels of God in heaven.'' And Mark, 
(xii. 25.) For when they shall rise from the dead,^ — 
they are as the angels which are in heaven." Now, 
although there are frequently some verbal differences 
in the records which the several Evangelists have 
made of the same discourses of Christ, yet they are 
all particular to give every important idea ; they omit 
no distinguishing point of doctrine, which any dis- 
course they record was meant to enforce. This con- 
sideration, together with the general sentiment of the 
Scriptures, obliges us to conclude that the word worthy^ 
which Luke alone has used in this case, (and he is the 



THE RESURRECTION. 



319 



Evangelist who did not personally hear the words of 
JesuSj) was not intended to apply to the moral desert 
of human conduct, but to the worth or value which 
God sets upon his creatures, according to the scale of 
being in which he has placed them. The same idea 
is expressed by the word value^ in Matt. x. 31; ^^Ye 
are of more value than many sparrows;" — and also 
the word better^ in Matt. vi. 26; Behold the fowls of 
the air! are ye not much better than they?" Moral 
desert could not have been meant by the words value 
and better^ because in this respect there is no com- 
parison between man and the fowls and sparrows. 
The reference was to God's estimate of them as his 
intelligent children. So of the word worthy in the 
case before us. In this view, the three Evangelists 
represent Christ as speaking the same sentiment, viz., 
that they on whom God sets such value as that he de- 
signs to give them a resurrection from the dead, shall 
be as the angels in heaven, and characteristic children 
of God. And who are they ? Answer : The human 
species. ''For as in Adam all die; even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive." There shall be a resurrec- 
tion of the dead, both of the just and the unjust."^ 

In the latter passage, while we have an answer to 
the question, '^who shall share in the resurrection 7 " 
and an answer, too, which precludes all cavil as to its 
speaking of the whole race, or a particular class of 
men, we have also a clear indication of the character 
of that state. The resurrection of mankind, even of 
the unjust, was to the apostle an object of hope. This 
he could not have said if he had believed the unjust 
would be raised up, and held up in being forever, for 
the sake of an endless existence of suffering. If Paul 



« Acts xxiv. 15. 



320 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

had believed this, he would have said of it as he said 
of the foreseen temporal sufferings of the Jews, that 
the contemplation occasioned great heaviness and 
sorrow." But hope involves expectation and desire ; 
and to charge the benevolent soul of the apostle with 
destining an existence of infinite evil to a portion of 
his fellow-creatures, would be an outrage of common 
decency. No ; the inspired ministers of Jesus viewed 
the universal resurrection of the dead, as altogether a 
subject of thanksgiving and praise, of consolation and 
hope. And there is no testimony of the Scriptures, 
which evidently relates to the literal resurrection, 
which contradicts this sentiment of hope, or casts a 
shade upon it. The gift of immortal life to man is 
not according to the purpose of God alone, but it is ac- 
cording to the purpose and grace of God, which are 
brought to light through the gospel.^ 

Resurrection to Condemnation. 

There are a few passages in the sacred Volume, 
which have been thought by some to teach a different 
doctrine; and these we will examine at the present 
stage of our progress. The most important text of the 
class referred to, is that in John v. 28, 29: Marvel 
not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that 
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come 
forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection 
of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection 
of damnation^ 

These words were pronounced by our Lord before 
the unbelieving Jews, Avhen they had been seeking to 
kill him because he healed an impotent man on the 



f2 Tim. i. 9, 10. 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



321 



Sabbath day, and also called God his Father, making 
himself, as they construed it, equal with God, Much 
reliance has been placed on this text, by some, for sup- 
port to the sentiment of endless guilt and condemna- 
tion. They have supposed it to be a declaration of 
the literal resurrection of all men from the state of the 
dead, into a final, fixed, and eternal state ; — a state of 
unalterable happiness to some, and of unalterable 
misery to others, according to their works on earth. 

If this be the sense of the text before us, we wish to 
know it. No person in his right mind can wish to be 
deceived, or to misunderstand the word of God. Truth 
will stand. And so far as we deceive ourselves, if it 
be by any abuse of the opportunities we have for correct 
information, we must suffer a just punishment for our 
iniquity. Every sober man's inquiry is. What is 
truth ? When he reads and considers any portion of 
the Scriptures, his fervent desire is, to know what the 
inspired writer or speaker meant. He is equally cau- 
tious against taking from^ and adding to^ the word, in 
any case. For one of these practices as well as the 
other, is treating with disrespect that wisest and best 
of Beings, by whose inspiration the Holy Scriptures 
came. It is, in effect, to say, that He is not so capa- 
ble as loe^ to plan a system of religion to be revealed 
to mankind. Under a solemn sense of our own little- 
ness, and of the unerring wisdom of Him, who deliv- 
ered the words above quoted, let us proceed with 
impartial candor, and prayerful earnestness, to seek 
the true meaning of his speech. 

It is my usual custom, when inquiring into the 
meaning of an important text upon w^hich many learned 
and pious of my elder Christian brethren have given 
an opinion, in respect to them, and in dislike to all 



323 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



needless innovatioiij to examine their opinions first ; 
and viewing them by the light of Scripture, to follow 
them so far as they have followed the Divine testi- 
mony. This course I will pursue in the present case. 

1. I have already mentioned the popular opinion, 
that the text relates to the introduction of all men into 
a final and unalterable state. But here we deem it a 
solemn duty to inquire, what is the Scriptural author- 
ity for such an opinion ? There is certainly nothing 
in the text, nor in the context, which authorizes the 
opinion that Jesus here spoke of all men being intro- 
duced into an unalterable state. The declaration is 
simply this: '^The hour is coming, in the which all 
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resur- 
rection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of damnation." Nothing is here said 
about their condition becoming unchangeable. Where 
then shall we find support for this opinion? Do the 
Scriptures in general^ when speaking on the state and 
kingdom which God will fix and make unalterable, 
afford us any good reason for understanding the text 
in the sense which is noAV in question '? Yery far from 
it. Jesus here speaks of some men coming forth into 
a state of condemnation. Now is it the sentiment of 
Scripture in general, that a state of sin and condemna- 
tion is ever to be established of God, as a final, fixed, 
and unalterable state 7 Every person who is conver- 
sant with the Scriptures knows better. To what part 
of the Bible will you direct me, that I may find the 
word of Jehovah pledged, for his building up, immor- 
talizing, and unchangeably fixing the reign of darkness 
and condemnation? You will not undertake to show 
me a text which speaks so strange a sentiment. The 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



323 



word of Grod engages for the support of the opposite 
cause, that of holiness and peace : and for the piitt 'mg 
down of the reign of evil. In execution of his word, 
he has commissioned and ordained his Son, and given 
him all power in heaven and in earth, to destroy sin, 
and subdue all things to himself — to his own holy 
reign. This has been abundantly exemplified in pre- 
ceding parts of this volume. 

Now, since it is an undeniable truth, that with the 
annihilation of sin, and the subjection and reconcilia- 
tion of all men to God. guilt and condemnation will 
cease, it follows of course that God, whose revealed 
purpose is that sin shall be destroyed, and all men 
reconciled to him, does not design to establish a state 
of guilt and condemnation as a final and unalterable 
state. For surely he has not two purposes directly 
opposite to each other. He has not purposed to make 
eternal like his own existence, that which he has pur- 
posed to destroy. 

Forasmuch then as our text does not suggest that 
the state of condemnation into which it says that some 

shall come forth,'' is their final and unalterable state ; 
and the word of inspiration elsewhere recorded forbids 
the supposition that a state of guilt and condemnation 
ever will be unchangeably fixed, — we cannot adopt 
the common opinion on this Scripture. Even admit- 
ting that Christ here spoke of the literal resurrection 
with immortal bodies^ we cannot admit that he spoke 
of the introduction of all into an unalterable state of 
mind. For if when all are raised with immortal 
bodies, some are in a state of guilt and condemnation 
of mind, in opposition to Christ, — though their bodies 
may not be changed, there must be yet a change of 
mind. For Christ must reign, and will not deliver up 



324 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



his kingdom to God the Father, until he has subdued 
and reconciled all to himself. So long, therefore, as a 
single mind remains in opposition to Christ, his whole 
work is not done, and there must of course be yet 
some further change. 

Having ascertained that Christ in the words before 
us, whether he spoke of the literal resurrection or not, 
did not teach the introduction of all men into their 
final and unalterable condition of mindy we are now led 
to question whether he did speak with reference to the 
literal resurrection. 

What is the evidence, we inquire, that Jesus here 
spoke of the literal resurrection 1 Do you rely on the 
particular language which he used ] On the phrase, 
"All that are in the graves — shall come forth?'' It 
does not follow from this that the literal resurrection 
was meant ; for such language is sometimes used in 
the Scriptures in a figurative sense. Indeed, most 
words and phrases which literally express any state, 
or condition, or local situation of man, or apply to 
natural objects in the earth, are also used in a figura- 
tive sense, with application to various subjects. 

The moimtaiii is used for exaltation and stability ; 
as in Isa. ii. 2: "The mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and 
shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall 
flow unto it." Here the true religion of heaven is called 
a mountain^ to signify its exalted character, and per- 
manent establishment. The rock is likewise employed 
as an emblem, to le^resent permanency snad perfection; 
as in Deut. xxxii. 4 :" He is a Rock^ his work is per- 
fect." And as the perfection of God and the perma- 
nency of his word are represented by the rock, they 
who trust in him and walk in the light of his counte- 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 325 

nance, are said to stand upon a rock ; — while the op- 
posite unsettled state of unbelief and sin, is figura- 
tively represented by the horrible pit and miry clay ; 
as in Ps. xl. 20: He hath brought me up also out 
of the horrible pit, and of the miry clay, and set my 
feet upon a rock, and established my goings." The 
prison-house is likewise used as an emblem in the 
sacred Scriptures, to signify the dark and enslaved 
state of mind from which Christ would redeem sin- 
ners. See Isa. xlii. 6, 7: ^'I will give thee for a cove- 
nant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles ; to open 
the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison- 
house." The terms sleejf^ and death^ are figuratively 
used to express a carnal and stupid state of mind. 
And coming out of this stupid state is called awaking^ 
and arising from the dead ; — as in Paul to the Ephe- 
sians : "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
dead, and Christ shall give thee light." 

The term grave is also used as an emblem, to de- 
note a very low, degraded and oppressed condition. 
And the redemption of persons from this low state of 
trouble, is called their being brought up out of their 
graves. See Ezek. xxxvii. 11, 12, 13 : Then he said 
unto me. Son of man, these bones are the whole house 
of Israel : behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and 
our hope is lost : we are cut off for our parts. There- 
fore prophesy and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord 
God, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause 
,you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into 
the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the 
Lord, when I have opened your graves, and brought 
you up out of your graves, — and shall place you in 
your own land." Here the redemption of the Jews 
28 



326 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



from their seventy years' Babylonish captivity, was 
signified to them by the promise of God, that he would 
cause them to come up out of their graves, to inherit 
the land of Israel. 

And now I inquire, what reason have you to offer why 
^ we should not understand that this coming forth from 
the graves^ under consideration, is likewise a figurative 
expression of some change of condition with persons 
living on the earth. The Greek word rendered graves 
in this case is the same, or a derivative from the same, 
that the LXX. use for gi^aves in the 12th verse of the 
passage just cited from Ezekiel. It is not hades^ the 
state of death, from which the Scriptures represent 
that the literal resurrection brings mankind ; but it is 
mnemeia^ the tomhs^ graves^ or sepulchres, ThereforCy 
if we apply the text to the literal resurrection, we 
shall make it a very partial resurrection, the resurrec- 
tion only of such as have been regularly buried. But 
thousands have lived and died, who were never in- 
terred in mnemeia or graves. The bodies of the ante- 
diluvians mouldered to dust upon the surface of the 
ground. The bodies of the Sodomites were burnt to 
ashes, and their ashes probably scattered to the four 
winds of heaven. The same has been the fate of mul- 
titudes of others, both of the wicked and the just. 
And the carcases of thousands of Jews, who perished 
in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, were food 
to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. 

But though there have been so many thousands of 
the human species who were never interred in sepul-^ 
chres or graves, yet they all went to hades^ the state 
of death. Jacob said of his son Joseph, '^I will go 
down into hades to my son mourning.''^ He did not 

§ Gen, xxxvii. 35. 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



327 



mean by hades any single grave or tomb, for he did 
not suppose that Joseph was entombed. He beheved 
that Joseph was eaten up by an evil beast. But it 
was into the unseen state of death that Jacob expected 
to gOj to be like his beloved son. Hades is used to 
express this state, and it is from this state that the 
resurrection is represented as raising mankind. The 
Scripture doctrine of the resurrection has nothing to do 
with the dust which is deposited in mnemeia^ the 
tombs ; it relates to the raising of the intellectual man 
from hades^ the state of death. ^ He who is the resur- 
rection and the life proclaims his purpose, saying, 
^^O death, I will be thy plagues ! O hades, I will be 
thy destruction!'^' And when the resurrection of all 
men is completed, then the triumphant exclamation 
will be raised, ''O death, where is thy sting? O 
hades, (state of death,) where is thy victory?"^ The 

h When that spiritual part of man, which, being organized with the 
grosset earthy matter, constitutes him a living, rational, and moral being, 
goes out at death into a disorganized state, that disorganized state is what 
is expressed by the term hades, state of death. It is the state in which Sol- 
omon says, (Eccl. ix. 10,) " There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor 
wisdom." But when this same spirit, be it sooner or later, is, by the omnific 
power of God, regenerated in organized bodies of the refined and heavenly 
substance, preserving its identity and resuming its consciousness, this be- 
comes a perfect resurrection from hades ; — and this second organized man is 
not of the dust of the ground — is not of the earth, earthy ; but is of the hea- 
venly substance, or heavenly nature. As we have seen, " The first man is 
of the earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from heaven. And as we 
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the hea- 
venly." (1 Cor. XV. 47, 49.) "For we know that if our earthly house of 
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly 
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven ; — that 
mortality might be swallowed up of life." (2 Cor. v. 1, 4.) Then will 
this mortal put on immortality ; that is, we, as rational beings, who here 
exist in mortal constitutions, shall then exist in constitutions inmiortal and 
heavenly. 

i Hos. xiii. 14. j 1 Cor. xv. 55. 



328 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



circumstance, therefore, that the text speaks of a 
coming forth from mnemeia^ the tombs ^ into which 
there are thousands of the dead who have never en- 
tered, and with which the literal resurrection has no 
concern, — this circumstance, I say, argues strongly in 
favor of this Scripture's heing taken, like the coming 
up out oi 7nnemeia, the tombs or graves, in Ezekiel, as 
a figurative expression of some event on the earth. 

Where, then, is the argument for applying this 
Scripture to the subject of the literal resurrection ? 
Will you refer me to the context? Will you say that 
the context shows that Jesus was speaking on the sub- 
ject of the literal resurrection ? I answer, the context, 
so far from showing that Christ spoke in the text of 
the literal resurrection, favors, and perhaps I may say. 
authorizes the conclusion, that the text was intended 
to be taken in a figurative sense. Begin at the 24th 
verse: ^'Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that re- 
ceiveth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, 
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condem- 
nation : but is passed from death unto life." Here is 
a passing from death unto life spoken of, which all 
will allow to be figurative ; meaning the passing out 
of unbelief and its concomitant evils, signified by the 
term, death, into faith in Christ and its connected 
blessings, expressed by the term, life. 

Jesus proceeds, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The 
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear 
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall 
live." Christ in this verse repeats the sentiment 
expressed in the preceding, but with this addition. 
While in the preceding verse he simply stated that 
whosoever receiveth his word hath passed from death 
unto life, in this he emphatically declares and engages 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 329 



his own agency in causing the dead to hear and receive 
his voice, and to pass from death unto Hfe: saying, 
^'The hour is coming and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God," &c. To 
show the fulfilment of this, St. Paul, a considerable 
time afterwards, said to a numerous circle of brethren, 
^' You hath he quickened^ who were dead in trespasses 
and sins." 

Now, considering that Jesus spoke the words of this 
text while he was thus engaged in discoursing on a fig- 
urative resurrection, and that he did not intimate that 
he changed his subject from a figurative to the literal 
resurrection, we have no reason to believe that any 
such change of subject was made. Even should we 
say nothing of other reasons against taking this text in 
a literal sense, the connection in Avhich it is found 
rather requires us to consider it figurative. 

But I have another, and a very important circum- 
stance to present, which bears with great weight 
against the common opinion on this Scripture. The 
circumstance is this. Wherever the literal resurrection 
is evidently spoken of, it is represented as introducing 
mankind into a state free from all siU; and guilt, and 
shame, even as the angels of God that are in heaven. 
The proofs of this fact have been, thus far, the main 
business of this chapter. 

From the foregoing considerations it appears abun- 
dantly evident, that this text, which speaks of some 
coming forth ^'to the resurrection of condemnation," 
is not on the subject of the literal resurrection. And 
since the language of the text will admit of being con- 
strued as figurative, and the context requires such a 
construction, and the testimony of Scripture in general 
28^ 



330 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

forbids any other, — we can, with full satisfaction, 
dismiss the common opinion concerning it ; and pro- 
ceed — 

2d. To inquire for the true meaning of this Scrip- 
ture. 

Jesus had just said that they who received his word 
had passed from death unto life; and that the hour 
was coming and then was, when the dead should hear 
his voice and live. ''For," said he, ''as the Father 
hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son 
to have life in himself And hath given him author- 
ity to execute judgment also, because he is the Son 
of man." 

" Marvel not at this." Marvel not at what? Mar- 
vel not at what I have said concerning the ef&cacy of 
my word to affect the state and condition of those who 
receive it, and of my authority to execute judgment; 
^'for the hour is coming in which" you shall witness 
my "authority to execute judgment," and see a more 
extensive display of Divine power; when not only 
those who receive my word shall realize the sway of 
my authority, but even those who continue to be my 
enemies and persecutors shall feel the effect of the judg- 
ment which God hath given me to execute. " All 
that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
come forth." That is,* all who may be in situations 
resembling in some respects the dead in the tombs, 
shall be aroused by the judgments which I shall exe- 
cute. " They that have done good, unto the resurrec- 
tion of life, and they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of damnation." That is, they that have 
done well shall come into a confirmed and more 
full enjoyment of life and happiness ; and they that 
have continued in unbelief and evil doing, shall be 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



331 



aroused to their full measure of guilt and condemna- 
tion. 

Now of what display of his authority to execute 
judgment, then coming, is it most Hkely that Jesus 
spoke? The judgment on which the other three 
Evangehsts have, by their records, represented Christ 
as speaking more frequently and emphatically than on 
any other particular judgment, is that which was to 
inflict the dreadful punishment upon the disobedient 
Jews, of which Moses and the prophets had long fore- 
warned them. And since Christ, according to the 
other three Evangelists, spoke so frequently and so 
emphatically upon this judgment, representing it to 
be the most terrible that ever was or ever shall Se, it 
would have been strange if John had passed this sub- 
ject entirely unnoticed, and never once introduced it 
in all his narrative. But there is no discourse of 
Christ which John has recorded, that more evidently 
refers to this judgment than the text before us. It 
speaks of a wonderful display of the power and au- 
thority of Christ to execute judgment, and a striking 
distinction between those that do good and those that 
do evil. And the discourses of Christ recorded by the 
other Evangelists, on the judgment which was then 
coming upon the Jews in that generation, call it em- 
phatically. The revelation of the Son of man in power 
and great glory ;^ and speak of the same distinction 
of character; of the awarding of life and favor to 
faithful disciples, and shame and distress to the wicked 
and disobedient. And you will further bear in mind, 
that Jesus addressed these words to that same people 
whom the judgment then coming in that generation 

k See Matt. xvi. 27, 28 ; xxiv. 30 ; xxv. 31. Mark xiii. 26. Luke xxi. 
22, 27. 



332 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



was to arouse to the suffering of shame and condem- 
nation. And he addressed them on the same occa- 
sion on which the other Evangelists represent him 
as speaking to them most pointedly concerning that 
judgment; viz., the occasion of their determined oppo- 
sition to his wholesome instructions, and seeking to 
put him to death. And this is not all which we have 
to offer, for applying this Scripture to the judgment 
which was then at hand. The form of the verb used 
here to express the coming of this event, denotes that 
it was approaching^ — that it was, as it were, on its 
ivay, The hour is coming,^^ Our Lord was in this 
place discoursing on what then was. and what was 
then approaching^ or next in order. The same phrase 
occurs in the 25th verse. The hour is comings and 
note isj when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son 
of God.*' This work of quickening them who were 
dead in sin, which was yet conmigj had also begun 
to be. 

The phrase erchetai hora. which in this text is ren- 
dered the hour is comings occurs in six other instances 
in John's gospel, in all of which it applies to events 
which were then near approaching. (See chap. iv. 
verses 21 and 23 ; and chap. xvi. verses 2d, 4th, 25th, 
and 32d.) These passages relate to the more perfect 
establishment of spiritual gospel worship, the persecu- . 
tions to be endured by the Christian disciples, their 
dispersion at the time of his crucifixion, and his after- 
wards showing them more plainly of the gracious 
counsels of God. These were all approaching events, \ 
and accordingly Jesus said of them, as of the event 
spoken of in the text, erchetai hora^ the hour is 
coming. Thus in every other case where John's 
gospel has the phrase which in this place is rendered, 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



333 



the hour is coming, it is used in reference to an event 
which is approaching. And the Scriptures generally, 
perhaps I may say invariably, when they say of any- 
thing that it is coming, or it cometh, mean that it ap- 
proacheth, or that it is next in order of time to some- 
thing else spoken of Therefore the circumstance, 
that of the time of the judgment which is the subject 
of the text, it was said, the hour is cominrr, corrobo- 
rates the view which is so evident from other consid- 
erations, that it was the then approaching judgment 
of that generation. 

In confirmation of the opinion that the text applies 
to the judgment which was to come in that generation, 
an opinion which we have drawn from a consideration 
of the occasion on which it was spoken, and a compar- 
ison of this with discourses of Christ recorded by 
other Evangelists, and from the fact that of the time 
of its fulfilment it was said to be then ^^coming^^ I 
I will refer you to a parallel passage in the 12th of 
Daniel. '^And at that time shall Michael stand up, 
the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy 
people : and there shall be a time of trouble, such as 
never was since there was a nation, even to that same 
time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, 
every one that shall be found written in the book. 
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to 
shame and everlasting contempt." This Scripture, 
learned divines of all denominations have considered, 
and that with the greatest propriety, to be parallel 
with that in John. The aioakening from the dust of the 
earth, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt, in Daniel ; and the coming forth 
from the graves ; they that have done good unto the 



334 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



resurrection of life ^ &c., in John, — are evidently spoken j 
of as the same event. And since Jesus so clearly 
informs us m what event this prophecy of Daniel 
was to have its fulfilment, this^ parallel with the 
record of John, explains that. 

Jesus, in discoursing to his disciples on the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem and events connected therewith, 
referred to this very chapter in Daniel, saying, 
^- When ye therefore shall see the abomination of des- 
olation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,~then let 
them which be in Judea flee into the mountains : — for 
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since 
the beginning of the Avorld to this time, no, nor ever 
shall be." Here Jesus speaks of the same time of 
trouble of which Daniel spoke ; and he then fixes the 
time to that generation. 

In the generation in which Christ was on earth, 
therefore, was that fulfilled which Daniel spoke; 

And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never 
was since there was a nation even to that same time, j 
And many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt." And I cannot see the 
least shadow of a reason to doubt that Jesus in the 
text spoke of the same event. We should very natu- 
rally have supposed, that when Jesus was addressing 
the people to whom the prophets spoke, and on a par- 
ticular judgment which they had predicted, he would 
sometimes use the language which they had used on 
the same subject. 

It is plain that events did take place in the timxC of 
that judgment, which, considering the ancient mode 
of speaking and writing, justified the strong language 
of the text, as spoken with reference to it. When 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



335 



Jesiis was here, he used to address the Jews as the 
most wicked people then on earth. Yet he found 
them hidmg under false pretensions of piety ; and cal- 
culating to escape the Divine threatenings, to which 
their works so clearly proved them to be subject. 
And, according to Josephus, though after this time, 
succeeding and increasing calamities came upon them, 
yet they slept on still. They appeared to be blind to 
the enormity of their sins, and deaf to all the threat- 
enings of God, — until they began to experience this 
great tribulation, such as was not since the begin- 
ning of the world, no, nor ever shall be." When 
these terrible calamities began to break forth upon 
them, then they were waked from the dust : they were 
called forth from the graves, or the secret places in 
which they had been sleeping, — they Avere roused from 
their dormancy. They came forth to a sense of their 
own shame, to the resurrection of condemnation^'' — and 
suffered that dreadful punishment, of which Moses and 
the prophets, and the Son of God, had so repeatedly 
forewarned them. 

And this judgment did not affect the wicked alone ; 
it affected the faithful disciples of Jesus, too. It called 
them forth into a more full enjoyment of life and hap- 

1 The word krisis, rendered damnation in the text, is the same word that 
is rendered judgment in verse 27th, and condemnation in verse 24th. It 
signifies judgment, condemnation, and punishment. See Parldiurst on 
this word. In this case it means the same punishment that is, in Matt, 
xxiii. 33, called " the damnation of hell," rr-c yoLasojc rsg yssvvric, the pun- 
ishment of gehenna, or of the Valley of Hinnom. The prophets had tes- 
tified of a punishment to come on the Jews, which should make their 
city like Tophet in the Valley of Hinnom ; and that Jesus meant the same 
temporal calamity by the punishment of gehenna is evident, in that he 
certified in the succeeding verses that all these things, these calamities, 
should come on that generation of the Jews, and should make their house 
unto them desolate. 



336 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



piness. They had been pressed down under grievous 
persecutions, and the calamities of war prevailed in 
all the land. And when everything in the natural 
world appeared blackness and darkness, no doubt con- 
siderable darkness brooded over their minds. We 
know that some things which Christ said to his dis- 
ciples when he was with them, they did not under- 
stand until after they were fulfilled. For instance, 
though he had repeatedly told them that he should be 
put to death, and should rise again on the third day, 
yet when he was crucified they were disconsolate, and 
understood not what he had told them, until The 
LiOrd lutd risen indeed,^' So, likewise, notwithstand- 
ing Jesus had given his disciples frequent instructions 
concerning this most dreadful judgment, and had 
engaged that they should meet deliverance, even as i 
Daniel said, Then shall thy people be delivered, every |i 
one that shall be found written in the book," yet we 
may reasonably conclude that when the terrible calam- . 
ities of war, pestilence, and famine, were added to the i 
grievous persecutions they Avere experiencing from the 
hands of the Jews, they were, for a time, in great , 
darkness and trouble. But they were all delivered 
from the calamities of this war ; and likewise from the 
persecutions of the Jews. This explained and fulfilled 
the promises of Jesus relating to their salvation in this 
judgment ;~and at the same time that it saved them 
from the principal of their temporal distresses, it of 
course cleared away the clouds which these evils had 
spread over their minds, confirmed their faith and con- 
fidence in him, raised them into more light^ and renewed 
and advanced their enjoyment of gospel life and peace. 

Now this important change in the condition of the 
disciples, so wonderfully wrought, was as properly 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



337 



called their coming forth froin the graves^ through the 
authority of Christ, to the resurrection of life^ as the 
redemption of the Jews from Babylonish captivity into 
their own land, was called of the Lord, by Ezekiel, the 
bringing of them up from their graves^ to inherit the 
land of Israel. And equally striking is the declara- 
tion. They that have done evil shall come forth to tht 
resurrection of condemnation^ to express this effectual 
arousing of the wicked and unbelieving from their 
graves of secrecy and refuge of hes, to misery, 
shame and contempt.""" 

m Since I published the first edition of a sermon on this passage, I have 
had the privilege of reading the works of Newcomb Cappe, an English 
divine, in which I find the same explanation given this Scripture that I 
have here given it. As he was a believer in the doctrine of future punish- 
ment, his prejudices would have inclined him to apply this Scripture to that 
subject, were it not that he felt obliged, by the clear evidence in the case, to 
apply it otherwise. And I think it must have been the clear evidence in 
the case, that led two persons, of difierent sentiment on the subject of future 
pmiishment, residing in distant parts of the world, and having no knowledge 
of each other's writings, to give this Scripture so precisely the same sense, 
and in a manner so similar. The following is his paraphrase on the two 
verses embraced in the passage before us, with the three preceding verses, 
beginning with the 25th : — " Verily I say unto you, the period is approaching, 
and is not far off, when, after my exaltation, they who are now insensible and 
inattentive to the teachings, and warnings and ministry of the Son of man, 
of me, in my present humble circumstances, will hear my voice, when, being 
constituted the Son of Gody 1 shall speak from heaven, by the Holy Spirit, 
sent to my apostles ; and they that hear shall live. (26.) For as the Father 
hath life in himself, and hath the power of giving life unto the dead, so 
hath he given to the Son the like power : he will enable him, by means ot 
the Holy Spirit, accompanying the witnesses of his resurrection, to quicken, 
to give apprehension, sensibility, and discernment, to many who seem now 
to have them not, who are figuratively and spiritually dead : he will enable 
him to endue the converts to his gospel with the gifts of the Spirit, and thus 
raise them from the dead, in imparting to them new principles of life ; and 
besides this, he will enable them to preserve their natural lives in the ap- 
proaching desolations of their country: thus will the Father honor him 
whom ye calumniate and reject, (27.) Nevertheless, it is not for such gra- 
cious purposes alone, that I am ordained unto a kingdom ; though I am a 
Son of man, low as I now am, and undistinguished from among the com- 
mon of mankind, I am appointed also to judge, and to execute judgment 

29 



338 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



But my readers may wish to be informed of the 
proof that the prophetic declaration of the text, with 
such interpretation as has now been given it. was ever 
fulfilled by corresponding fact. Were the disciples of 
Jesus preserved during those tribulations Avhich de- 
stroyed their oppressors? And were they preserved 
unto such circumstances as constituted a resurrection 
or deliverance from their preceding state of trouble and 
persecution? — The history of the Christian church fur- 
nishes us Avith a satisfactory answer to this inquiry. 

The believing or Christian Jews, were preserved 
through the destruction which came on their country. 
'^It was under the government of St. Simon/' says 
Tillemont, ^^that the (Christian) Jews left Jerusalem 
by God's order, before that city was besieged in the 
year 70, and withdrew beyond Jordan into the city of 
Pella."'' And their lives were not preserved unto 

upon this untoward generation. (28, 29.) Let not wiiat I say amaze you ; 
suffer not yourselves to be lost in groundless hesitating and unprofitable 
wonder : believe me, for it is true, not only that the hour is very near at 
hand, when some w^ho are now perfectly inattentive, and insensible to 
my call, shall hear the voice in which I will address them, from my ap- 
proaching state of exaltation, and being obedient thereto, shall live ; but 
it is alike true that though farther off, yet the time is at no great distance, 
within the compass of this present generation, when all that now are 
in the graves, who at present sit in darkness and the shadow of death, the 
whole body of the Jewish people, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, 
summoning them to judgment ; and being then at length all awakened to 
perceive who and what he is, shall come forth out of their present state of 
darkness and ignorance, to a new state of mind, to a resurrection, which to 
those who have been obedient to the calls of Providence, shall issue in the 
preservation of their lives, amidst the calamities which shall overwhelm 
their country ; to those who have refused to hearken to them, shall issue in 
their condemnation, to fall among them that fall, and to take their share in 
all the bitterness of the calamities that are hastening to involve this coun- 
try." Cappe's Works, vol. i., pp. 322 — 325. Such is the agreement of Cappe's 
opinion with the view which we have offered on this Scripture. 

" Till. Eccl. Mem., vol. ii., p. 145, — referring to Eusebius, lib. de Demon- 
stratione Evangelica ; Paris, 1627, 3 c. 5, p. 124. 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 339 

continued persecutions and tribulations, but unto the 
promised season of rest and peace. For Tillemont 
adds, that, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
Christians returned thither, and appeared with reputa- 
tion by reason of a great number of prodigies and 
miracles, so that the church of Jesus Christ flourished 
again there, being composed of a great number of 
Jews, who had embraced the faith, and thus continued 
until the city was destroyed again in the last years of 
Adrian." The last years of Adrian were about A. D. 
139, which makes the time when the Jewish Chris- 
tians had the peaceful occupancy of Judea and Jeru- 
salem, after the dispersion of their nation, to be more 
than 60 years. 

Gibbon says, that ^^The Jewish Christians, who 
united the law of Moses with the Christian religion, 
remained in solitude in Pella about 60 years, enjoymg 
the comfort of visiting the Holy City^ which they loved 
and revered. They were vastly outnumbered by the 
Christians from Gentile nations, who rejected the 
Mosaic ceremonies. But under the reign of Hadrian 
the desperate fanaticism of the Jews filled up the mea- 
sure of their calamities, and the Romans exercised the 
rights of victory with unusual rigor. A new city was 
founded on Mount Sion, privileged as a colony ; and 
the Jewish Christians, or Nazarenes^ by giving up their 
Jewish habits, enjoyed a free admission into the colony 
of Hadrian.° Of course there was then no opposition 
to Christians only as they were confounded with 
Jews. In reference to this historical fact, Jortin, in 
his remarks on Ecclesiastical History, on the words 
of Christ, Blessed are the meek, for they shall in- 
herit the earth," says, This was literally fulfilled, 

o Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii., chap. 15, p. 66. 



340 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



when the believing Jews returned to their own coun- 
try, after the destruction of Jerusalem.''^ 

The historical researches of Milner have led him to 
the statement of the same fact. He says that, '-the 
congregation of Christian Jews were commanded, by 
an oracle, revealed to the best approved among them, 
that before the wars began, they should depart from 
the city, and inhabit a village beyond Jordan, called 
Pella. Thither they retired, and were saved from the 
destruction, which soon after overwhelmed their coun- 
trymen. And in so retiring they at once observed the 
precept, and fulfilled the well known prophecy of their 
Saviour. The death of Nero, and the destruction of 
Jerusalem, would naturally occasion some respite to 
them from their sufferings ; and we hear no more of 
their persecuted state until the reign of Domitian, the 
last of the Flavian family, who succeeded to the em- 
pire in the year 81. He does not appear to have 
raged against the Christians, till the latter end of his 
reign." 

But concerning the Christian church in general, 
there is no account of any persecution against it, after 
the destruction of Jerusalem, until that of Domitian, 
A. D. 95. Fleury, who seems to be particular io men- 
tion all the troubles of the church, even those which 
tradition reported, makes mention of none before this ; 
and this he represents as short, and not violent."' 
Milner says, that '-Nerva, Domitian's successor, pub- 
lished a pardon for those who were condemned for 
impiety, recalled those who were banished, and for- 
bade the accusing of any man on account of impiety 
or Judaism. Others, who were under accusation, or 

P Jort. Rem. vol. i, p. 72. q Miln. Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 104. 

f Fleu. Eccl. Hist., vol. i., b. 2, pp. 151—2—3. 



RESURRECTION TO CONDEMNATION. 



341 



under sentence of condemnationj now escaped by the 
lenity of Nerva. This brings us to the close of the 
century, in which we behold the Christians, for the 
present, in a state of external peace.'* 

Thus it is abundantly shown in history, that the 
prophecy of our Lord, with the application which all 
the circumstances we have considered require us to 
make of it, has been wonderfully fulfilled. During 
the rage of those calamities which overthrew the Jew- 
ish nation, the Christians were preserved. And after 
that event, the Jews having lost the power, and per- 
haps in a measure their dispositioji to molest them, the 
Christians enjoyed a considerable season of undis- 
turbed rest from persecution. They enjoyed a season 
of at least twenty-five years of quietude, without mo- 
lestation, from the year 70, when the Jews' overthrow 
was consummated, to the year 95, the commencement 
of Domitian's persecution. And with the exception 
of this light persecution of about one year's continu- 
ance, the time of rest to the Christian church extended 
to between thirty and forty years ^ which probably ran 
out the natural lives of all who became followers of 
Christ when he ministered on earth, and of most of 
those who espoused his cause in season to share with 
his disciples in the persecutions which preceded the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

When the Christians had witnessed what their Mas- 
ter had before told them concerning their own suffer- 
ings in his cause, and then what he had said of that 
judgment which should arouse their persecutors from 
their graves of self-righteous security, into shame, 
condemnation, and destruction, — and what he had 
said also concerning their own preservation, and suc- 
ceeding season of peace ; when they had witnessed all 
29^ 



342 



COMPEND OF CHRISTUN DIVINITY. 



these things, they had an entrance into life of a double 
nature. They not only received a resurrection, a de- 
hverance, from these persecutions which had threat- 
ened them with death, into the enjoyment of their 
natural lives in external peace and safety,* but these 
events must so have disciplined their minds, and con- 
firmed and built up their faith, as to raise them also 
into a very enlarged enjoyment of the gospel religion, 
which is called everlasting life/ For though the be- 
lievers had everlasting life, as in John iii. 36, yet at this 
time they were raised into a new and enlarged enjoy- 
ment of it. What a pleasing and wonderful fulj&lment 
of our Saviour's prophetic declarations, one of which is 
contained in this text! The reader may have the 
satisfaction of reflecting, that he need not wrest these 
prophetic Scriptures from their most evident meaning, 
by any private interpretation, to avoid opposing them 
to fact. 

Kind reader, a careful attention to the Scriptures, 
and to corresponding historical facts, has rendered the 
subject of our present inquiries plain and clear. The 
truth on this subject we have found to be worth our 
seeking. It enables us, in the present case, to under- 
stand the complete fulfilment of the Scripture before 
us, and to improve it as an example" and ^^admoni- 
tion," to ourselves, without cutting short the work of 
the Saviour, or discouraging the prayers of saints. It 
enables us to believe what God hath threate:iied, and 
to believe too what God hath promised; to look 
through the dimness of those tears, which sin, and 
pain, and death, have drawn from our eyes,— and be- 
hold Jesus triumphant, death swallowed up in victory, 

8 Matt. xvi. 25, 26 ; xxiv. 31. Luke xxi. 28. 
tMatt. xiii. 43 ; xxv. 29, 46. 



THE RESURRECTION. 



343 



sin banished the universe of God, and tears wiped 
away from off all faces ! 

St. Paul treats with brevity on the subject of the 
resurrection, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, 
(iv. 13 — 18.) Then the succeeding chapter is com- 
menced with these words; — "But of the times and 
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto 
you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of 
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when 
they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruc- 
tion cometh upon them." 

The immediate succession of this language to the 
above-mentioned description of the resurrection, has 
led different people to different erroneous applications 
of the said description. Some have used it as proof 
that there is to be a judgment connected with the 
resurrection, which shall execute sudden and final 
destruction on a portion of our race. Others, finding 
the idea of wrath and destruction never connected 
with the immortal resurrection, have concluded that 
the apostle did not treat upon that subject in the pre- 
ceding chapter. They have applied what is there 
said of the raising up of them that sleep, to the same 
event as is signified in the fifth of John, by the resur- 
rection to life, and to damnation. But both these ap- 
plications of the subject I take to be wrong. 

In the first place, the conclusion of chapter fourth, 
refers evidently to the literal resurrection. The apostle 
says, ''But I would not have you to be ignorant, 
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye 
sorrow not, even as others, which have no hope. For 
if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so 
them also which sleep, in Jesus will God bring with 
him," (or, as Wakefield and others render it, ''even so 



344 



COMPEXD OF CHBISTIAN DIYIXITY. 



them which sleep will God through Jesus bring with 
him.") *• For this we say unto you by the word of the 
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the 
coming of the Lord, shall not prevent {ut; (fOaacouer^ 
shall not go before) them which are asleep. For the 
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 
with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of 
God ; and the dead, in Christ shall rise first : (that is, 
the dead shall rise in Christ first :) then we which are 
alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and 
so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, com- 
fort one another with these words/*' 

That St. Paul treats the subject of the literal resur- 
rection of the dead in the 15th of 1 Corinthians^ none 
will dispute. And I vrill now show that the passage 
just quoted relates to the same subject. 

First:— In addressing the Corinthians, the apostle 
makes the resurrection of Christ the ground of the 
Christian hope of immortality. ''If Christ is not 
raised, then there is no resurrection of the dead. But 
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
first-fruits of them that slept.'' So here to the Thes- 
salonians he says. " For if we believe that Jesus died 
and rose again, even so them also which sleep will 
God through Jesus bring with him." 

Second: — To the Corinthians he represents that all 
who sleep or may sleep in death, shall be raised, or 
made alive '-in Christ." So here, "Even so them 
which sleep will God in or through Jesus bring with 
him.'' And again, at verse 16th. The dead shall rise 
171 Christ first:' It has commonly been taken to 
mean that there is a certain class of the deceased, in- 
cluding such as had been righteous on earth, who are 



THE RESURRECTION. 



345 



called the dead in Christy and who will rise before the 
rest of the dead. But on close observation, it will be 
seen that there is but one class of the dead spoken of, 
and that is the deceased of mankind as a species. "I 
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- 
ing them which are asleep," — i. e. the human dead. 
Again, Even so them also which sleep^'^ i. e. the dead 
in general, spoken of above, '-in Jesus will God bring 
with him.'' And yet again, " The dead^ in Christ shall 
rise first." And what next? Is there another class 
of the dead to be raised afterwards '] Nothing is said 
of any such fact. The next thing mentioned is, 
*-Then we which are alive and remain, shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds." So, 
then, '^them which sleep," in verses 13, 14, and ''the 
dead," in verse 16, are all who are to be subjects of 
the resurrection of which the apostle here testifies, 
except those who shall be alive on the earth at the 
completion of the resurrection work. And by placing 
the comma after the word dead, in verse 16, -'the 
dead, in Christ shall rise first," or ^'the dead shall 
rise in Christ first," the sentiment is made to be in 
perfect agreement with that to the Corinthians, Even 
so in Christ shall all be made alive." 

Third ; — The apostle to the Corinthians represents 
that all the dead shall be raised, before the last of the 
living shall be made immortal. ''For the trumpet 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorrup- 
tible, and (then) we shall be changed." So here to the 
Thessalonians, ''For we which are alive and remain 
unto the coming of the Lord, shall not go before them 
which are asleep. For the dead shall rise in Christ 
first, (before the living are changed,) then we which 



346 



C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



are alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
them in the clouds." 

Thus is this apostle's description of the resurrectioUj 
Avhich he gives to the Thessalonians, in exact agree- 
ment, in all prominent points, with that given to the 
Corinthians. And I can find no way by which I can 
lawfully apply them to difl'erent subjects. 
' So likewise is the character of the resurrection de- 
scribed to the Thessalonians, indicated as being the 
same as that ascribed to it in the letter to the Corin- 
thians. It is represented as being altogether a subject 
of grateful hope. '-I would not have you to be igno- 
rant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that 
ye sorrow not, even as others, which have no hope." 
The hope here spoken of is not a hope for one's self 
in particular. When the members of certain sects 
speak of their having ''obtained a hope," they mean 
by it a hope for themselves, to which they think that 
something they have done or felt, entitles them. But 
the Christian's hope spoken of in the Scriptures, is not 
a mere selfish hope. It is a hope for man. And in 
this case, the hope spoken of is for deceased friends. 
The heathen sorrowed for the dead without hope, and 
employed extravagant expressions of anguish, and 
acts of self-torture. But the apostle would have his 
believing brethren to know, that this hopeless sorrow 
for the dead, was from ignorance of their allotment. 
He would have them to understand the gospel doc- 
trine of immortality, that they might be comforted 
concerning the deceased. 

Let it be considered here, that these Thessalonian 
Christians had the dearest friends and relations of 
life, who were in the heathen state of unbelief, and 
were, one after another, dying in that state. Did the 



THE RESURRECTION. 



347 



gospel give them no hope for such ? Perhaps when 
this letter was received from the inspired apostle, and 
the brethren were called together to hear it read, some 
pious believing daughter had just closed the eyes of a 
fond and doating mother, who died without the light 
of Christ. She hears these words of kindness and 
love, ''I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, 
concerning them which are asleep : that ye soi^'ow nof^ 
even as others, which have no hope." Could she 
draw consolation from these words of truth ? Could 
she have hope for that dear departed mother? Ac- 
cording to modern creeds, she could have no hope 
from her gospel faith, to soothe her sorrows for her 
dearest friend asleep. But the ministry of the primi- 
tive gospel bade her sorrow not, but rejoice in hope. 
Did the Christian apostle mean to have his brethren 
harden their hearts to cold indifference for all their 
friends who were not believers with them ? Such 
were a majority of their earthly friends. Would their 
Christian teacher have them comforted without hope 
for them ? Were the sorrows, which he feared they 
would indulge, alone for deceased Christians, in utter 
forgetfulness and indifference for the great mass of 
their friends who had fallen asleep? I should tremble, 
in the conscious guilt of blasphemy, to harbor the 
thought for a moment. The Christian spirit is love 
and affection for all. And with regard to them who 
are asleep, without any limitation or reserve, the 
apostle would have us not to be so ignorant of their 
destiny as to sorrow on their account, but to cherish 
for them a consoling hope. For since Christ died, 
and rose again, so them also which sleep, will God 
through Jesus bring again from the dead. And every- 
where has the apostle had it understood, that the 



348 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



resurrection from the dead is an introduction into a 
higher and better state. 

If any still contend that the glorious and desirable 
resurrection, described in the passage we have now 
been considering, and also in that to the Corinthians; 
includes but a part of the human dead, I will remark 
that the conclusion of the latter argument referred to, 
brings to a settlement this question, and that forever. 
At the event of the resurrection which he there dis- 
cusses, '-shall be fulfilled the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory." And then the tri- 
umphant shout is raised, O death, where is thy sting? 
O hades, (state of death.) where is thy victory?'' 
Here we have the most positive and decisive assur- 
ance, that not a single victim shall then remain in 
hades, or under the power of death. The subjects, 
then, of that blessed resurrection, to an immortal, in- 
corruptible, spiritual, heavenly, and glorious state of 
being, are, as we have seen before, the great Adamic 
family. 

But why should the apostle say, (1 Thess. v. 1 — 3) 
in the next paragraph succeeding that which we have 
quoted on the resurrection, that the day of the Lord 
should come as a thief in the night, and bring sudden 
destruction upon them? I answer, he changes his 
subject. By due attention to this portion of his epistle, 
you will perceive that the apostle is not here engaged 
in a continuous argument, but delivers short para- 
graphs, on different subjects. He commences chapter 
4th with exhortations touching the connubial relation, 
and common honesty. At verse 9th, he changes the 
subject, with the disjunctive bui,—^^ But as touching 
brotherly love, ye have no need that I write unto 
you." Then, after a few remarks upon their own 



THE RESURRECTION. 



349 



knowledge and practice on this point, he changes the 
subject again, with the same disjunctive, — --But I 
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- 
ing them which are asleep.'' And after the brief in- 
struction he gives upon the topic of the resurrection, 
he again changes the subject in the same manner as 
before, — ''But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye 
have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves 
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as 
a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace 
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon 
them." Here the subject is professedly and distinctly 
changed from the resurrection of the dead, to the 
times and events which were to be observed as signs 
of a notable day of the Lord for which they should be 
looking. On some, that day should bring swift de- 
struction. Jesus had described it thus: — '' But as the 
days of Noe were, so shall the coming of the Son of 
man be. For as in the days that were before the 
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the 
ark; and knew not until the flood came and took 
them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son 
of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one 
shall be taken, and the other left.'''' And again, — 
^•When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with ar- 
mies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 
Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains. 
— For these be the days of vengeance, that all things 
which are written ma^^ be fulfilled. For there shall be 
great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and 
shall be carried away captive into all nations. And 

^ Matt. XXIV. 37 — 40. 

30 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and 
in the stars : and upon the earth distress of nations, 
with perplexity;- — men's hearts failing them for fear, 
and for looking after those things which are coming on 
the earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 
A?id they shall see (he Son of man coming in a cloudy 
with power and great glory. And he spake to them a 
parable ; Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees ; when 
they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own- 
selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise 
ye, when ye see these things come to pass, ye know 
that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I 
say unto you. This generation shall not pass away till 
all be fulfilled."^ 

This is the day of the Lord, the coming of which 
was nigh when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and 
the coming of which would be attended with sudden i 
destruction upon the principal enemies of the gospel. 
But no such descriptions are applied to the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. 

It will be borne in mind, that for the very reason 
that this notable day of the Lord should come as a 
thief in the night, in judgment upon the Jewish nation, 
it deeply concerned the leading enemies of Christ at 
Thessalonica. For these leading opposers were Jewish 
citizens, who had a synagogue there, and who, when 
Paul and Silas were preaching there, stirred up the 
baser sort to drive them from the city. And the judg- 
ment of that day affected not only the Jews in Jerusa- 
lem, but in all the provinces abroad. They became \ 
weak and degraded, and crushed beneath the feet of j 
the Gentiles, everwhere. 

Of this judgment the apostle reminded the Thessa- |i 

^ Luke xxi. 20—32. 'i 



THE RESURRECTION. 



351 



lonians again, in his second epistle. He assured his 
Christian brethren there, that though they were then 
suffering persecutions and tribulations from the har- 
dened unbelieving Jews, yet God would recompense 
tribulation to those troublesome opposers^ and give the 
Christians rest from their persecutions, when the Lord 
Jesus should be revealed from heaven in the working of 
that power which had been foretold, which should, as 
by the rage of fire, punish them with aionion destruction 
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his 
power.'' The prophet had described the political de- 
struction of that people in similar terms. And I will 
cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your 
brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.'' Again, 
— Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget 
yoUj and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave 
you and your fathers, and cast you out of my pres- 
ence; and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon 
you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be for- 
gotten."^ It will not be disputed that these prophecies 
relate to the temporal dispersion of Israel. The de- 
struction of their city and temple, — their deprivation 
of the Divine favor which they had enjoyed in their 
worship there, where dwelt the symbols of Jehovah's 
presence, — and their slavish captivity among the hea- 
then, were represented by the Lord's casting them out 
of his sight, and out of his presence. And so did the 
apostle, Avhen thai calamity was near, describe it as a 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of his power." But, I repeat it, these various 
judgments have no connection with that grand and 
stupendous event, which shall swallow up death in 
the victory of life immortal. 

w 2 Thess. i. 3—10. ^ Jer. Yii. 15. r Jer. xxiii. 39, 40. 



352 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



^^Resurrection of the Just,'^^ 

When Jesus was invited to eat bread at the house 
of a chief Pharisee, and he saw some who were bidden 
choosing out the chief rooms, he put forth a parable 
unto them, saying: ^'When thou art bidden of any 
man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, 
lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of 
him ; and he that bade thee come and say to thee, 
Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to 
take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, 
go and sit down in the lowest room, that when he 
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, 
go up higher ; then shalt thou have worship of them 
that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth 
himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself 
shall be exalted." 

'^Then said he also to him that bade him, When 
thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, 
nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neigh- 
bors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense 
be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call 
the poor, the lame, the maimed, the blind : and thou 
shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; 
for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the 
just:' (Luke xiv. 8—14.) 

Those Christians who are in the habit of referring 
men to the future state of existence for the rewards of 
all, even the most trivial performances in life, em- 
ploy this text as a support to such doctrine. They 
suppose that our Lord here teaches that, for even call- 
ing the poor to a feast, we shall be rewarded in the 
resurrection world ; — that the account of all our ac- 
tions here, shall be settled and balanced there. Now 



RESURRECTION THE JUST. 



353 



in favor of such an application of this text, I can see 
no authority, but there is much against it. 

First; — There is nothing said here about a resur- 
rection from the dead to immortal life. The text says, 
^' Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection (or 
rising) of the just.*' It does not say that it shall be at 
their rising from hades, or the state of death, but sim- 
ply their rising ; and what rising is meant must be 
determined by the connectioUj and the nature of the 
subject. 

The word here rendered resurrection is anasasis, 
which Parkhurst defines to signify — 

1. A stcmding on the feet again, or rising, as 
opposed to falling. It occurs, though figuratively, in 
this view, Luke ii. 34: **And Simon blessed them, 
and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is 
set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel." 

2. A rising or resurrection of a dead body to life, as 
in Heb. xi. 35 : Women received their dead raised to 
life again." 

3. A rising or resurrection of the body from the 
grave; both of Christ, and of m.en in general." He 
adds that this word occurs twice in the Greek of the 
Old Testament, ^'in both which it signifies to rise^ 
to stand ?^p." These two cases are, Lam. iii. 62 : 
^•The lips of those that rose up against me;" and 
Zeph. iii. 8: ^'Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the 
Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey." 

Hence it is seen that the word resurrection in the 
text simply denotes a rising. The original word from 
which it is translated, is used with all the variety of 
application with which we use the word rise, — 
whether it is a rising from a seat, or from obscurity to 
eminence, or from inactivity to action, or from literal 
39=^ 



354 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



death to life. Consequentlyj the bare occurrence of 
the word anasasis^ or risings in this case, does not 
prove that the rising meant is from literal death. In 
conversation on a politician who has become unpopu- 
lar, should one say, He is down," and another re- 
join, He will rise again," you would not understand 
him to speak of a rising into immortality : — the sub- r 
ject of the discourse would determine it otherwise. 
And so does the subject of discourse connected with 
this passage, as we shall shortly see, determine other- 
wise concerning the meaning of the word resurrection i 
in it. 

Second ; — The application of this Scripture to the 
future world, is opposed to the general teachings of 
the Bible on the reward of our virtues, and on the 
tenor of the resurrection life. It would indeed be be- 
neath the dignity of the subject, and beneath the dig- 
nity of our Lord, to refer men to the immortal state 
for the recompense even of making a dinner for their 
poorer neighbors, — a recompense which it is at the 
same time said that their richer neighbors might them- 
selves make them in the present world. And if it is in 
the future world that men are to be rewarded for all 
their good deeds done on earth, that state will not be 
free from cause of boasting, and even of envy. There i 
will be an infinite variety of condition in heaven, cor- 
responding to the nature and number of good deeds 
here. And as it was shown under the head of ^^ob- 
jections," to chapter ninth, if there is no condition in 
the future world but what is to be expected on the 
score of recompense for deeds in the present, those 
who die in infancy, having done neither good nor evil, 
will be allotted to no condition at all. 

But this habit of making up the future heavenly 



RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 



355 



state, out of the matters of recompense for human 
works below, so fraught with absurdities, and so at 
variance with the usual teachings of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, has no sanction from the words of Christ before us. 
I have shown that the original word for resurrection, in 
this case, simply means a rising ; and a rising frorii 
what, and to what, must be determined by the nature 
of the subject. 

And now, by consideration of the subject itself. I 
will proceed to exhibit what I regard as the m.eaning 
of our Lord, by the rising of the just. ^' Then said he 
unto him that bade him. When thou makest a dinner 
or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, 
neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors ; lest they 
also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee." 
The recompense here meant is the return of a similar 
favor. The rich were just as well able to make a 
feast for him, as he was to make one for them ; there- 
fore his bidding such was a mere act of courtesy, and 
not of benevolence. 

^^But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, 
the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt 
be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee." — Here 
is something to be expected in calling the poor and 
needy, which was not mentioned in the case of call- 
ing the rich. — a blessing. •' And thou shalt be blessed, 
for they cannot recompense thee." There was no- 
thing said of a reward for calling the rich, other than 
the return of a similar expression of respect from 
them. But there is a peculiar blessing, a generous 
pleasure, a noble and heartfelt satisfaction, in the 
exercise of the principle of benevolence, in the doing 
of needed good to our fellow-creatures. Hence Jesus 
assured the Pharisee, that by cultivating that spirit of 



356 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



benevolence which would call the poor unto his table, 
he should be blessed. And then a recompense^ or re- 
turn of similar favors, of like temporal good as he 
had bestowed, might as a general thing be expected. 
^'Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of 
the just." That is, when the just, the virtuous poor, 
me, their circumstances change, and they come to 
promotion, — and when you shall stand in need, — then 
you will receive the like favors from others, which 
you had imparted to them. For it is delivered as a 
general truth by the Saviour, that with what judg- 
ment ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and what mea- 
sure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 

But some may object to this view, and say that it 
must be incorrect, because it makes Christ affect to^ 
offer the people a better motive of action than they 
practised in their custom of calling in the rich, and 
yet offers them the same motive at last for calling in 
the poor, viz., the prospect of a recompense. But if 
this were an objection, it would bear with equal force 
against any view which can be offered on this passage. 
For it cannot be pretended that Christ did not offet 
the assurance of a recompense for calling in the poor, 
as well as for calling in the rich. This fact is not 
changed by carrying the promised recompense into 
the future world. 

But this subject of recompense is not the point of 
difference on which Jesus here laid stress, with regard 
to the calling of the rich or poor. It cannot be dis- 
puted that a recompense is to be expected in both 
cases. But the preference which is given to the act 
of calling in and giving meat to the poor and needy, 
is, that it is a deed of present charity. The rich do 
not at present need it, but the poor do ; and therefore 



RESURRECTION OF THE JUST. 



357 



by feeding them, you relieve distress, and do a deed 
of charity in which you shall feel to be ^'blessed." 
And then, further to encourage his host, the rich Phar- 
isee, to such acts of benevolence, in relief of those 
who were unable then to recompense him as the rich 
might do, he assured him that in addition to the bles- 
sedness of doing good, he should receive returns of 
temporal favor, and that too at a time when he might 
find himself in greater need. 

It is a truth, which was especially applicable to 
those ancient ages, that the righteous were at times 
liable to be pressed down in regard to their external 
condition ; but that it could not long at a time remain 
so, for by the order of the administration of God's 
government, the righteous poor would soon rise, and 
then, in those times of perpetual fluctuations in com- 
munities, their wicked oppressors would be brought 
down. But when the righteous poor were risen, 
they would remember in liberal return of favor, 
those of the rich who had remembered them in their 
poverty. 

This sentiment is contained in the preaching of 
Solomon, (Eccl. xi. 1, 2;) ^^Cast thy bread upon the 
waters ; for thou shalt find it after many days." 
That is, be prudentially charitable, and you shall 
not be losers, but shall at some day find a return 
of the good you do. Give a portion to seven, and 
also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall 
be upon the earth." That is, by the changes and 
revolutions that are going on in the earth, jrou who 
are now able to give^ may be in need to receive ; and 
they who now need to receive from you, may be able 
to bestow upon you their favors. 

There was a time in that age in which our Lord 



358 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIYINITY. 



was upon earth, when there was a remarkable resur- 
rection, {a?iasasis.) or i^ising of the just: and at the 
same time there was a wonderful fall of that corrupt 
people, the unbelieving Jews. And it appears from 
what followed upon Christ's pronouncing the vrords 
of the text in question, that he here had some refer- 
ence to that event. — And when one of them that sat 
at meat with him heard these things, he said unto 
him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom 
of God.'' Upon which Jesus spoke a parable, relating 
to the rejection of the gospel by the haughty Jews, 
and to its reception by the poor and maimed, the pub- 
licans and sinners in the highways and hedges. And 
the parable further taught, that at the coming of the 
kingdom of God, (which should be in that genera- 
tion,) these just ones, the obedient poor, would rise to 
safety, peace, and plenty, when the disobedient and 
proudly rich should be cast down. Thus many who 
were then alive when this conversation was had with 
Jesus, did live to enjoy the blessedness of eating bread 
in the kingdom of God. 

Our Lord, in a passage referred to in the preceding 
division of this chapter, speaking of the events of the 
judgment of that age, adds, And when these things 
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your 
heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.'' That is, 
the redemption of the disciples from the grievous 
calamities of war and persecution, then drew nigh. 
The just were soon to rise and prosper. He proceeds, 
'^So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to 
pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at 
hand." Here the more firm establishment and wide 
extension of the gospel of Christ's kingdom, and the 
state of rest and peace of the Christian church; which 



i 



WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 



359 



should succeed the destruction of the Jewish pohty, is 
called the coming of the kingdom of God. 

Hence, though the disciples of Christ were then mostly 
of the poor, yet the inch who should receive Christ's 
cause, and practise the benevolent principles which he 
enjoined, though the poor could not recompense them 
at that time for their deeds of charity, should yet find 
their recompense at the rising of the just, which in that 
generation was brought to pass. 

The general lesson unto which we are to improve 
this subject is, that we shall be blessed in doing good ; 
that virtue, though it may at certain times seem to be 
oppressed, shall rise and prosper. And that he who 
does good to those who need it, may himself, in a 
change of conditions, both need and receive the same 
favors from them who have shared of his kindness. 
The benevolent and upright in heart, have the assur- 
ance from God, that their place of defence shall be 
the munition of rocks, their bread shall be given them, 
and their waters shall be sure." 

What shall be Raised? 

It is thought by some essential to the true faith of the 
esurrection, to believe that this earthly body is to be 
raised. Painful descriptions have been given, of scat- 
tered limbs and fragments of the old body flying from 
different parts of the globe, to meet and take their 
places in the formation of the heavenly man. And 
when it has been asked how the same particles of 
matter which composed the body of each at death, 
shall go to compose the new body in the resurrection, 
since the body of one, in cannibal tribes, may have 
served as food to another, and thus the same particles 



360 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



have belonged to different bodies at death,~the diffi- * 
culty has been answered by the sweeping remark, 

There is nothing impossible with God." 1 

We know there is nothing impossible with God, 
which does not involve absurdity or wrong. God can- j 
not deny himself : and he cannot make a thing, at the 
same time, to be and not to be. It is easy to conceive 
that the same particles which compose, in part, the i 
body of an individual when he dies, may be a compo- i 
nent part of another at a subsequent date. But that i 
the same particle of matter should, al the same iirne, 
constitute parts of different bodies, is impossible in the 
nature of things. 

But the resurrection of the gross earthly body, is 
not a Scriptural doctrine. That which is raised is not 
that which was deposited in the sepulchre, or grave. 
The resurrection is a deliverance from hades, the state 
of the dead, and not from mnemeia, the tombs. We 
have remarked in another division of this chapter, that 
there are thousands of the human race who were never 
interred in mriemeia, or graves ; but all go to hades. 
This word is never used in the plural ; it is significant 
of one state, in which, as Job says, ^'are the small 
and great, and the servant is free from his master." 

There the prisoners rest together, and they hear not 
the voice of the oppressor." Joseph was supposed by 
his father to have been devoured by an evil beast. No 
sepulchre contained the ashes of his mortal body. 
But he was in hades, whither Jacob expected to go 
and meet him. When the witch of Endor was re- 
quested to bring up Samuel, she did not go to the 
sepulchre of his body to divine over that, nor was 
there the least idea of disturbing his mouldering mor- 
tal frame. The state of the dead was supposed to be 



WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 



361 



a subterranean region, and it was tlie fyicLTies of Samuel 
that was expected to be brought up. It was supposed 
to be a conscious, yet dreamy state; and Samuel is 
represented as saying to Saul, Why hast thou dis- 
quieted me, to bring me up.'" From this state it was 
supposed to be tip^ to any point of the earth's surface^ 
I do not refer to this case of divination, as authori- 
tative revelation touching the state of the dead. In- 
deed the very use of the word sheol^ or hades^ in ap- 
plication to it, denoted that it was an unrevealed, 
unknown, hidden state. I have no doubt of the truth 
of the account referred to, as a simple narrative of 
what transpired in relation to Saul. He was not in a 
situation to scrutinize the transactions himself, and 
the woman knew enough of his circumstances to pre- 
dict with great safety, what would be the result of 
the morrow's battle. Either she contrived to manage 
the case successfully with the dejected, credulous king, 
or God sav^r fit to interpose Avith his warning to the 
unrighteous monarch. But this is not to our present 
point. My design in referring to this and other cases 
is to show, that when the Scriptures speak of persons 
in hades^ or the state of death, they speak not of the 
body in the tomb, but of the intellectual and moral 
nature, the mind, the spirit, — or the individual as a 
personal identity. These personal identities the peo- 
ple of Old Testament times conceived of as existing, 
though in a state of which they formed no clear con- 
ception. And when there were prophetic breathings, 
(assthere were at sundry times) of the sentiments of 
hope for a resurrection of the dead, it was of a reorgani- 
zation of these dreamy manes^ to bring them up into 
perfect active being. Hence the accomplishment of 

2 1 Sam. xxviii. 15. 

31 



362 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DITINITY. 



such a rising of the dead was not denominated the 
destruction of the tombs, but of hades. ''I will ran- 
som them from the power of hades^ I will redeem 
them from death : O death. I will be thy plagues ; O 
hades ^ I will be thy destruction.'' ^ 

This is the view which St. Paul gives on the point 
under consideration. In his labored argument on the 
resurrection, from which vre have already derived so 
rich instruction, he raises an objection for the opposer. 

But some men will say. How are the dead raised 
up? and with what body do they come?" The ques- 
tion is not. How are the dead bodies raised up ? and 
with what body shall the dead bodies appear ? The 
dead are conceived of in a personal capacity, as spirits, 
(whether dreamil}^ conscious, or unconscious, it affects 
not tlie present argument.) and the question is pro- 
posed. How shall they be reorganized into tangible 
active beings? and with what body shall Xhej be 
clothed ? 

The objection was designed to imply, on the part 
of the opposer. that as the mortal body was mouldered 
away, the resurrection of the dead was incredible, as 
they had no bodies to be raised in. But the apostle 
replies, — -'Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, except it die ; and that which thou sowest, 
thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare 
grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain ; 
but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and 
to every seed its own body.'" That is, to each seed is 
given that body which belongs to its species. 

The sense of this figure is to the point. The old 
body of the germinating seed dies, and is not raised 
again. There is a spirit, a germ of the seed, that 

«^Hos. xiii. 14, 



WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 



363 



lives, and constitutes its identity in species with the 
seed sown. But it hath a new body, as God has been 
pleased, by the laAvs of his creation, to give it. But 
the figure is not to be apphed in all its points, nor are 
figures generally. Figures and comparisons are only 
meant to be applied in those prominent points which 
are brought to bear directly upon the subject in ques- 
tion. The purpose of the apostle in the use of this 
figure was, to teach that the old body will not be 
raised in the resurrection, but that God will give us 
new bodies. There is another fact in the case of the 
grain, viz., that the new body, though not the former 
hull raised up, is like the former. But this point the 
apostle did not intend to have applied to his subject. 
Nay, he guards against such an application, by pro- 
ceeding directly to explain, that the resurrection body 
of man shall be different from the earthly body. Enu- 
merating different descriptions of bodies, one of which 
diff'ers from another in glory, he adds, — So also is 
the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; 
it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor ; it 
is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness; it is raised 
in power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a 
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is 
a spiritual body. Howbeit, that was not first which 
is spiritual, but that which is natural ; and afterward 
that which is spiritual." 

So then, as God has, out of these grosser elements, 
organized bodies for us here, adapted to the purposes of 
our being in this earthly state, — he will, of refined ethe- 
real substance, organize for us new and glorious bodies, 
better adapted to the legitimate developments of mind, 
and fitted for the heavenly state of being. And then, 
though we shall inherit new and immortal bodies, we 



364 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



shall be the same identical persons, knowing ourselves 
to be the same, raised into a higher and better life. 
That which constituted the man on earth, shall con- 
stitute the man in heaven. 

The conscious identity of the person depends not on 
a connexion with the same particles of matter. There 
is a continual waste of the physical system, which is 
supplied by other matter digested from the aliments 
received. By this process, all the gross substances of 
the body are changed every few years, and we have 
literally new bodies. Yet the "person^ the man^ is iden- 
tically and consciously the same. And so he will be 
w^hen God shall give him a heavenly body. 

There is a beautiful expression of this sentiment in 
Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, (v. 1—4.) 
^'For we know, that if our earthly house of this taberna- 
cle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this 
we groarij earnestly desiring to be clothed upon Avith our 
house which is from heaven ; if so be that, being clothed, 
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this 
tabernacle do groan, being burdened : not for that we 
would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality 
might be swallowed up of life." This is the same 
subject that was treated in the former Epistle to that 
church, in chapter fifteenth. The result he there 
described by the saying, '•Death is swallowed up in 
victory;'' and the language describing the same in 
this passage is, ^'That mortality might be swallowed 
up of life.'^ And here is the same distinction made be- 
tween the person and the body, as in the other case. 
The body is represented under the figure of a house. 
This mortal body is called an earthly house which 
shall be dissolved ; and the resurrection body is called 



WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 365 

a building of God, an house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. And there is no intimation 
that the latter house was to be composed of the ashes 
of the former. By this resurrection, it is not the tomb, 
but hades^ that shall be deprived of its victory. For, 
as we have had occasion repeatedly to observe before, 
at the consummation of this glorious resurrection 
work, the joyful shout of triumph shall be raised, ^-O 
hades, where is thy victory ?" 

There are a few expressions in the apostolical writ- 
ings which have been thought to indicate the rising 
of these earthly bodies; — Such, for instance, as This 
corruptible shall put on incorruption ; and this mortal 
shall put on immortality." And again, ^'Who shall 
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like 
unto his glorious body, according to the working 
whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself'"" 
These passages have been thought to mean, that these 
mortal bodies shall be made immortal. But the ex- 
pression is the same as that which closes the sketch 
of the resurrection in chapter fourth of Second Co- 
rinthians, viz., '^That mortality might be swallowed 
up of life. Whereas in the very sketch thus closed, it 
is distinctly stated that, ^'If the earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved,'* (not if it were raised, but 
if it were dissolved,) we have a building of God, an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
And the apostle would be unclothed of this earthly 
tabernacle, not that he might be naked, but clothed 
upon with the heavenly body. Hence it is obvious 
that the sayings referred to, of this corruptible put- 
ting on incorruption, and this vile body being fash- 
ioned like unto his glorious body, are but brief and 

bPhil. iii. 21. 

31^ 



366 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



comprehensive expressions of the idea, that we, who 
here exist in a mortal constitution, shall hereafter be 
made, as it respects the entire being, immortal and 
glorious. 

The resurrection of the earthly body of Christ has 
been employed as an argument for the rising of the 
mortal bodies of mankind. But we are nowhere in- i 
formed that this circumstance was designed to incul- 
cate such a lesson. His rising from the dead, into 
life, was designed as demonstrative proof of the resur- 
rection of our race. But the work of decomposition 
had not commenced in his body, and it was necessary 
that he should resume that body for the then present, 
as a witness to the fact of his real resurrection. I have 
no doubt that the mind, or spirit, organized in a hea- 
venly body adapted to its full developments, can 
recognize spirit by mental discernment. I have tested 
clairvoyant experiments, to know that the mind, even 
here, may be placed in a position so to exercise its 
powers, as to recognize other minds. But it was ne- 
cessary that Jesus, after his resurrection, should be 
recognized by the bodily organs, the physical senses 
of his friends. Otherwise they could not have been 
duly qualified witnesses of his resurrection. Their 
testimony may have passed with the ghost stories of 
the times. Even for themselves, they could not have 
determined, by their natural faculties, that their very 
Master had indeed come forth from the dead. It will 
be recollected that his own apostles needed to see for 
themselves that it was the person, in very form, with 
whom they had been acquainted ; and some of them 
must needs examine the nail-prints in his hands. By 
such personal examination, they were qualified to go 
forth with the bold language of John ; — That which 



WHAT SHALL BE RAISED. 



367 



was from the beginning, which we have heard, which 
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life ; 
(for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, 
and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal 
life, which was with the Father, and was manifested 
unto us ;) that v/hich we have seen and heard, de- 
clare we unto you."*" 

Since, then, the coming forth from the tomb of the 
earthly body of Jesus, was indispensably necessary 
for the purpose just explained, and also, as I may 
have added, to take from his enemies their expected 
argument for his imposture, by shoAving his body in 
their own possession after the third day from his 
death, — and since the circumstance was never applied 
by his witnesses to any other purpose, we have no 
authority to argue from it further. Who, indeed, ex- 
pects to see Jesus in the heavenly state, with the nail- 
prints forever in his hands and feet, and the perfora- 
tion of the soldier's spear in his side ? Yet this may 
as well be argued from the fact of his showing them 
to his disciples, and even that his being raised with 
those wounds is proof that men will be raised with 
their bodily scars and deformities, as that the coming 
forth of his body from the sepulchre is proof that our 
fleshly bodies shall be raised. To us it is obvious 
that this appearance on earth for the space of forty 
days after his resurrection, was not that of his glori- 
fied body; for then would his face have shone hke 
the sun, and his raiment have been white as the 
light.'"^ And should any ask what became of the 
crucified body, upon his ascension on high, — let it be 
considered, that the power which has formed the 

c 1 John i. 1—3. ^ Matt. xvii. 2. 



368 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



gross substances of our bodies from the arcana of the 
elements, even the power which raised up Christ 
from the dead, could dissipate those substances again 
at pleasure. 

Shall we know each other in Heaven 7 

By some, this question has been regarded as one of 
trifling importance ; but with me it involves the chief 
interest of the future life. If we know not one 
another, we shall not know ourselves : and to talk 
to me of my being raised into another life, where I 
shall neither recognize myself nor the loved ones of t 
earth, would be but to mock my hopes. It would be 
but to promise, what the infidel and atheist believeSj I 
a succession of othei^ beings, when we are no more. 
The recognition of ourselves and of one another in 
the future life, is essentially and necessarily involved 
in the Scripture doctrine of the resurrection. The 
life from the dead which is promised, is ow^ life, and 
that of oixic felloW'beings ;—so that we should be com- 
forted concerning our friends who are fallen asleep, 
through the hope that they shall live with us, and we 
with them, in a life immortal. But if we are not to 
possess conscious identity there, then we have no 
future life, though God may create other grades of 
beings after us. On this point, I can see no ground : 
for a question. i 

On the doctrine of personal identity in the future 1 
life, is also founded the argument which reconciles , 
with the wisdom of God, the allotment to man of this 
mortal existence. If mankind are to enter the future 
life ignorant of having existed before, then why might 
they not have been made immortal at first 1 For how 
then can they be advantaged by the weaknesses, the 



THE RESURRECTION. 



369 



sorrows and trials of earth, and by passing down into 
the valley of death 7 How then can they admire a 
crucified and risen Saviour ? — and how shall they 
praise God for their dehverance from the bondage of 
corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children 
of God ? Indeed, the idea of our recognition of our- 
selves and one another in heaven, is inseparably 
interwoven with all the Scripture teachings of a 
future life, — with all the consolations of experimental 
hope, — with the famihar intercourse of Jesus with his 
friends after his resurrection, — v/ith the fact that even 
in his glorified state he knows how to be touched 
with the feeling of our infirmities,'^' — and with all 
the visits of angelic servants of God from the spirit- 
land, bespeaking a sympathetic interest for men, and 
bearing for us messages of love. 

Does any object to this doctrine of personal identity 
in heaven, on the ground that a remembrance of the 
doings and incidents of the mortal life, may be a 
source of eternal guilt and suffering? If the objector 
is a Christian, let him reviev/ the revealed doctrines 
of the gospel, and he will find among them such an 
operation as the forgiveness of sbts. This subject is 
explained in chapter seventh of this work. It com- 
prises the idea of a deliverance from sin, and a free- 
dom from its sting; the restoration of the sinner on his 
reformation, to the privileges of the righteous. Let 
liim look at the brethren of Joseph, when they had 
fully comprehended how the Lord overruled their 
evil for good, — ^at St. Paul, when his soul had become 
iiubued with the spirit of him whom he had perse- 
cuted with madness, — and at the distinguishing spirit 
and purpose of the gospel, through which God is in 

e Heb, iv. lo. 



370 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



Christ reconciling the world unto himself, ^^not imput- 
ing ihew trespasses unto them and in the light 
derived from these sources, he will perceive, that 
though we shall never take pride in a remembrance 
of our own past errors, but shall learn hence humility, 
— yet God may give to our memory some better em- 
ployment, amidst all the great things he hath done for 
us, than to serve forever as a mere accuser. 

On the Time of the Resurrection. 

Whether there shall be a simultaneous resurrection 
of all men from the dead on some unknown future 
day, or whether the work is going on progressively, is 
a question on which there is a diversity of opinions 
among different sects of Christians. As it is a mere 
question of time, in relation to a v/ork which belongs 
to God alone, it does not appear to ha,ve been made a 
special subject of revelation. The Scriptures teach 
that man shall live again, and that, too, in a life which 
shall never end. In this cheerful hope, we are re- 
quired to do as Jesus did, commend our spirits into 
the Father's hand. Our first waking moment will be, 
to us, the next to that wherein we shall have fallen 
asleep. 

But though this question does not appear to be 
specially and designedly answered by revelation, yet 
there seem to be some remarks and facts incidentally 
given, which may have a bearing upon it. The con- 
versation of Jesus with the Sadducees, though applied 
directly to the fact of a future life, seems in some of 
its circumstances to involve the idea of a progressive 
resurrection. He said unto them, "And as touching 
the dead that they rise, have ye not read in the book of 

f 2 Cor. V. 19. 



THE RESURRECTION. 



371 



Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, 
I am the God of xlbraham, and the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob 1 He is not the God of the dead, 
but the God of the hving : ye therefore do greatly 
err."' True, it is urged on the other side, that this is 
spoken in the sense in which God ^'calleth those 
things which be not as though they were." But the 
language most naturally comports with the idea of a 
regular administration of God, in raising man to a 
higher Hfe. And so in the very passage just referred 
to is this idea uppermost: — '-As it is written, I have 
made thee a father of many nations, before him whom 
he believed, even God, tvho quickeneth the dead^ and 
calleth those things which be not as though they 
were."^ Here the quickening of the dead is spoken 
of as a common work with Jehovah. 

And the language of St. Paul in one of the passages 
which were adduced to another point, seems appli- 
cable here : — For we know, that if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to 
be clothed upon with our house which is from hea- 
ven. Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed 
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that 
whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from 
the Lord : for we walk by faith, not by sight : (that 
is, our enjoyment of Christ's presence is by faith, not 
by personally seeing him as he is;) Vv^e are confident, 
I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, 
and to be present with the Lord." In this case, the 
apostle seems very clearly to express the sentiment, 

S Mark xii. 26, 27. ^ Rom. iv. 17. 



372 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



that when he should be unclothed of the earthly body, 
he should be successively clothed upon with the hea- 
venly ; that when he should be absent from the body, 
he should be present with the Lord. 

The same sentiment is expressed with equal clear- 
ness, in the letter to the Philippian church ; — (i. 21 — 
24:) '^For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of m.y labor ; 
yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a 
strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to 
be with Christ, which is far better; nevertheless, to 
abide in the flesh is more needful to you." Now such 
apostolical language as this, seems utterly incompati- 
ble with the idea of a suspension of the work of life 
for many ages, before rising to be with Christ. And 
when Jesus spake to his disciples of going from them, 
referring to his passing through death, and rising, and 
going to the Father, upon his sajdng to them, as he 
had said to the Jews, '-Whither I go ye cannot 
come,"^ Peter proposed the inquiry, Whither goest 
thou?" And Jesus answered him, Whither I go, 
thou canst not follow me now : but thou shalt follow 
me afterwards." This does not, to be sure, describe 
the length of time afterwards to the coming of his dis- 
ciples into the heavenly world : but the familiar idea 
expressed is that of a proper succession of events. 

I will add, that the translation of Enoch and Elijah 
are incidents which favor the view that the introduc- 
tion of m.an into the heavenly state, as into the 
present world, is a progressive work. So is the re- 
mark of the angel to John, — the angel whom Christ 
sent to communicate to him the appropriate revela- 
tion. When John fell down to Avorship before the 

' John xiii. 36. 



THE RESURRECTION. 



373 



feet of the angel who showed him these things, then 
said the angel unto him, See thou do it not; for I am 
thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, 
and of them which keep the sayings of this book.''^ 
He was one of the prophets raised from the dead. 
And the disciples in the vision of the transfigura- 
tion, saw Moses and Elias talking with the Son of 
man.^ 

It is conceded that St. Paul's description of the 
resurrection, in 1 Cor. xv., and 1 Thess. iv., treat of 
it as if it were to be a simultaneous work, altogether 
in future time. But to my mind, the evidence, though 
chiefly incidental, which is presented on the other 
side, may warrant the conclusion that in these two 
instances, where the resurrection was made the entire 
subject of discourse, the apostle adopted the strong 
and unqualified style of those chapters as a convenient 
testimony of the work as a whole. In relation to a 
great purpose which is in progress, when a bold testi- 
mony to its certainty, and description of its full con- 
summation is given, it is natural to throw it into the 
future tense, and to treat it as one event, without dis- 
tinction of periods in its progress. 

The most plausible objection to the belief of a pro- 
gressive resurrection, admitting it to have commenced 
in the former ages, is in the fact that Christ is denom- 
inated the first-fruits of them that slept. But it is 
certain, however, that he raised several of the literally 
and really dead in his own lifetime, which was before 
his own resurrection. The facts too, which we have 
adduced, concerning Enoch, Elijah, Moses, Elias, and 
the angel who was one of the former prophets, are all 
in our memory. If these are to have the weight we 

J Rev. xxii. 9. ^ Matt. xvii. 3. 

32 



374 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



have allowed them, then Christ as the first-fruits of 
them that slept, is to be understood of the order of 
rank, rather than of time, — being the One appointed 
of God as the head of the heavenly state, and as 
the One to rise from the dead, in a manner, and for 
the purpose, to complete and establish, as a great 
system of revelation, the doctrine of our immortal 
hopes. 

Finally, it is the pleasant belief of the writer, and 
he thinks this belief is authorized by the general con- 
currence of evidence in the case, and confirmed by the | 
philosophy of all God's works, not that man shall f 
enter upon the fully developed life immortal the next 
moment after physical death, but that of the principles 
of life there is no annihilation : — that in the work of 
life there are no ages of suspension ; — that as it is with 
the insects and plants which have a second life, and 
with all things in God's creation which are appointed 
to diiferent stages,— so with man, whose first stage is 
the present life; — the principles of life shall operate, \ 
unto the reorganization of the perfect man, by the 
progressive workings of God. With this faith we care 
not to know the precise time; it would have been | 
incompatible with the purposes and the relations of 
our present being, to have had it given us to know 
what shall immediately succeed the moment of our 
decease. The idea of the successive operations, through 
the regenerative power of God, of the principles of life, 
unto the perfecting of our new and heavenly being, 
will accord with the sentiment of our being unclothed 
of this, ''that we maybe clothed upon of our house 
which is from heaven." And here we rest, in filial 
confidence of the dying Master, — ^'Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit." 



THE RESURRECTION. 



375 



The reader will bear in mind, that I have not been 
laboring to decide upon the condition of man in the 
intermediate state between death and the resurrection. 
The Hebrews used the word sheol for the state of the 
dead, to signify that it was dark, hidden, unrevealed. 
And the Greek hades is used for the same purpose. 
Into this state I have not seen the light of revelation 
shine. When Christ arose from the dead, though 
by his resurrection he brought the final immortal 
state of the human creation to light, he did not bring 
the state of the dead to light. He gave no account of 
what or where he was from his crucifixion to that time. 
Hades is hades still. The imaginations of some learned 
speculators have been there, and they have confused 
the minds of many more by the difierent reports which 
they have given of it. But for me the sentiment of 
Moses shall suflice, — Secret things belong to God, 
but the things which are revealed, to ourselves and 
our children." 

It is called ^^the valley of the shadow of death." 
When my mind has gone to the borders of this valley, 
the next spot on which I see the light of revelation 
clearly shine, is the mountain of the resurrection, over 
beyond this valley. And it is unto that mountain, not 
into this valley, that I have been directing your atten- 
tion for the hope of the future. 

There is one passage, however, which has been 
thought to contradict the assertion that hades remains 
hades still. It is taken by some to be a direct exposi- 
tion of circumstances and transactions in sheol^ or the 
intermediate state. Consequently, though it does not 
relate to the main subject of this chapter, yet as it is 
thought by others to relate to an incidental matter 
which we have embraced in it, I will appropriate this 



376 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



place for a consideration of it. The case referred to is 
that of 

The Spirits in Prison, 

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just 
for the unjust^ that he might bring us to God ; being 
put to death in the fleshy but q^iickened by the spirit, by 
which also he went and preached unto the spirits in 
prison; rohich sometime were disobedient^ when once the 
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah^ 
while the ark was a preparing^ wherein few^ that is 
eight souls ^ were saved by water 

Most writers of commentaries on the Scriptures, 
have supposed that St. Peter here spoke of Christ's 
preaching by his spirit through Noah, at the time the 
ark was preparing before the dehige. But no reason 
is offered for this view of the text, other ^than the 
simple fact that the circumstance of the deluge in the 
days of Noah is here introduced. But this circum- 
stance is not sufRcient to satisfy my mind that Christ's 
preaching to the spirits in prison^ was NoaKs preach- 
ifig to the antediluvians. This preaching was ascribed 
to Christ. What was done by his apostles and minis- 
ters, whom he chose, qualified and sent out, might 
justly be, and often is ascribed to Christ, as if he per- 
sonally did it. But I know of no apostolical usage, 
for applying directly to Christ the works performed by 
men before he came into the world. And this preach- 
ing to the spirits in prison, is ascribed directly to 
Christ, and is introduced as something performed after 
his resurrection, or being quickened by the spirit. 
*^For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just 

1 1 Peter iii. 18—20. 



THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 



377 



for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; being 
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit, 
by which also he went and preached unto the spirits 
in prison." Now it is clear, that if there was any 
such work performed as here described, as I think I 
shall be able to show that there was, by Christ's own 
power and authority, subsequently to his being quick- 
ened by the spirit, it will be most reasonable to apply 
the text to such subsequent work. 

Others have understood Peter to teach in this place, 
that the spirits of the antediluA'ians were in a prison 
of darkness, suffering punishment for their sins on 
earth, and that the spirit of Christ, between his death 
and resurrection, went down into that prison to preach 
to them, and to save them. 

We will now examine whether it is fair to conclude 
that Peter designed to teach, by the words before us, 
as a doctrine of fear to influence our conduct, that 
there is a prison in which men are shut up and pun- 
ished after death for the sins of this life, and that Christ 
went on a mission there during the time when his 
body was in the sepulchre. I ofler the following 
reasons, which influence my mind against such an 
understanding of it. 

1st. No such doctrine was ever taught by the patri- 
archs and prophets, who, through the space of nearly 
four thousand years, were commissioned of God to 
warn the people of all real dangers with regard to 
their conduct in life. Since these patriarchs and pro- 
phets were commissioned of God to declare to the 
people of the first four thousand years the dangers to 
which sin would expose them, and since they did not 
teach the people that they would be put into a prison 
for punishment after death, I feel obliged to conclude 
32^ 



378 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



that such a prison was 7iot one of the dangers to which 
they were exposed. 

It will not be to the point for my brother to argue 
here, that we may as well conclude that the doctrine 
of life and immortality is not true, because it was not 
revealed under the Old Testament dispensation; for 
this doctrine is there revealed, though not so clearly as 
in the New Testament. But what if it had not been 
revealed under the Old Testament dispensation at all] 
It is what God has secured to all men by his own pur- 
pose and grace, and is not to be either obtained or lost 
by their works. It is, therefore, a different subject 
from that which relates to the rewards and punish- 
ments of human doings. And further, the patriarchs 
and prophets were not specially commissioned to be 
ministers of the doctrine of life and immortality ; but 
they loere specially commissioned and enjoined to 
encourage the people in virtue, and dissuade them from 
sin, by plainly declaring to them the benefits of the 
former, and the evils of the latter. I cannot accuse 
them of unfaithfulness; and consequently, as they 
did not warn the people of a prison for punishment 
after death, I cannot admit that such a prison was one 
of the evils to which they were exposed. And, accord- 
ingly, I consider it both fair and requisite, as lovers 
of the Scripture, to take the position that if the lan- 
guage of the text, written in the year of the world 
4063, will admit of any other fair construction, we 
ought not to apply it to the doctrine of such infernal 
prison. 

2d. But Peter does not here introduce the mention 
of the spirits in prison as the main subject of discourse, 
nor as a motive of fear to restrain sinners, nor as if he 
designed to make a communication of anything new. 



THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 



379 



He was engaged in urging upon his brethren the ex- 
ample of Christ, who suffered for sinners, and being 
raised again from the dead, pursued their interest, in- 
structing and enlightening those who were in prison. 
This mention of the spirits, or as Wakefield translates 
it, the minds of men in prison, is introduced incidentally 
to illustrate the remarks concerning Christ's faithful- 
ness to the interests of mankind, and the benefits of his 
mission, which extended to sinners. But nothing ap- 
pears here like a design to introduce any new doctrine 
in relation to the dangers of sin. 

3d. If St. Peter designed to teach that all who died 
in unbelief before the coming of Christ, had been kept 
in a state of suffering in an infernal prison, and 
were visited by Christ's spirit between the time of 
his death and resurrection, why did he mention those 
in particular, and those only^ who were drowned in 
the deluge? This reference to the antediluvians, and 
the mention of the few of them who were saved upon 
the water, appears like a design to introduce a com- 
parison between that case and some other; but it 
does not appear like a design to teach the doctrine of 
all unbelieving souls going into an infernal prison after 
death. 

4th. But this text does not say that the work here 
ascribed to Christ was performed between the time of 
his death and resurrection. Nor is there any other 
text of Scripture which asserts that Christ did any 
work during the time when he was in the state of 
death. The language of the text, with the preceding 
context, implies that the work here ascribed to Christ 
was performed after his resurrection, ''Being put to 
death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit; by 
which also he went and preached to the spirits in 



380 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



prison." He was put to death in the flesh, then 
quickened by the spirit, — and then, by the same spirit 
or power by which God raised him from the dead, he 
enabled him to preach to the spirits in prison. 

Having now given my reasons against adopting 
either of the opinions on this text, that it signifies 
Christ's preaching formerly through Noah, or his 
preaching to souls in an infernal prison, — I v/ill pro- 
ceed to present what I consider a rational and Scrip- 
tural interpretation of the passage. 

And here I will premise, that the word sjni^its in the 
Scriptures, sometmies means men, or the minds of men, 
who are alive in the flesh; as ^'^the spirits of just men 
made perfect^'' (Heb. xii. 23,) unto whom the Hebrew 
Christians had come, certainly means living men. 
They had come into a unison of mind with just men, 
made perfect in love. And in the phrase -'Father of 
spirits^^ (Heb. xii. 9,) the sentiment is the same as in 
the saying, We are also his oflspring.*' God is our 
Father. And '-he is the God of the sjnrits of all 
flesh," i. e. he is the God of all men. 

But on this word there are several various readings 
in ancient copies of the New Testament. Dr. Adam 
Clark says that in some of the Greek MSS. it reads in 
spirit, the word spirit applying to Christ. By which 
he came in spirit, and preached to them who were in 
prison. And he says that he had before him, in 
writing his Commentary, one of the first, if not the 
very first edition of the Latin Bible, in which the 
verse stands thus: "By which he came spiritually^ 
and preached to them that were in prison." And in 
several very ancient MSS. of the Vulgate, which he 
had in his possession, the clause was similar. Christ 
came in spirit and preached to them who were in 



THE SPIRITS IN PRISON. 



381 



prison. Or, as Wakefield renders it, preached to the 
minds of men in prison.'' 

Who, then, were those men in prison, to whom Christ 
preached in spirit after his resurrection from the dead ? 
On this subject the Scriptures give us very clear and 
satisfactory light. The Lord said by the prophet 
Isaiah, '^Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; mine 
Elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my 
spirit upon him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the 
Gentiles. I the Lord have called thee in righteous- 
ness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, 
and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light 
of the Gentiles ; to open the blind eyes, to bring out 
the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in 
darkness out of the prison-house.'' Here the prophet 
speaks of the Gentiles as being in darkness and in 
prison^ and of Christ being appointed by the spirit of 
God to give them light. 

In another place Christ is represented as saying, — 
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, 
to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to 
the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that 
are bound.'' ^ 

But this work of liberating the Gentiles^ who were 
especially meant by those in darkness and in prison, 
did not go into effectual operation, until Christ had 
been put to death in the flesh, and raised again by the 
spirit of God. During his life in the flesh, he charged 
his ministering disciples not to go in the way of the 
Gentiles, but rather to the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. But when he had been put to death, and had 
risen again, he commanded his apostles, saying, ''Go 
ye into all the world^ and preach the gospel to every 



382 



COMPEND OF CHRISTUN DIVINITY. 



creature.''^ And he promised to be with them alway, 
even mito the end of the age. 

Soon the apostles went among the Gentiles with the 
gospel ministry, and great multitudes of these spiritual 
prisoners received the word with gladness. And as 
the apostles did all things in the work of their ministry 
through Christ who strengthened them^ hereby Christ 
was preaching to men who were in prison. 

But how shall we understand the saying, By 
which he went and preached to the spirits (or miuds 
of men) in prison, which sometime were disobedient^ 
when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days 
of NoahV^ Does not this prove that Peter meant that 
Christ preached to the same individuals who were 
drowned by the flood? In answer to this I will 
remark, that Wakefield^ in his translation of the New 
Testament, supplies the word as here, to express what 
he thinks the connection shows to be the true meaning. 
He thinks that the scope of the apostle's discourse, and 
especially the word few^ ''wherein feiv were saved 
upon the water," denotes a comparison^ which must 
be expressed by supplying the word as\ thus, — "By 
which he went and preached to the minds of men in 
prison, who were disobedient a5 those upon whom the 
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah;'^ 
meaning that he preached to the Gentiles who were 
alive on the earth in the apostolic age, but were as ' 
disobedient as the antediluvians. 

But I do not perceive the need of this supplement of 
the word as to express the sense here. I would take ^ 
it as it stands. Christ, after his resurrection, preached 
to the same people^ in the sense in which the Scrip- 
tures often speak of a people, though not to the same 
individuals, which were sometimes disobedient in the 



THE SPIRITS IX PRISON. 383 

days of Noah. God said to Abraham, --Thy seed 
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and 
shall serve them four hundred years, — and afterwards 
they shall go out with great substance."' Not one of 
the individuals that went down into Egypt lived to go 
out again. Yet they were called the same people who 
went out. And long after all the individuals who 
went out of Egypt were dead, it was said to that 
people that the Lord delivered them from bondage in 
Egypt, and made them a great nation. And so on, the 
events which took place upon that class of the human 
race, through different ages, are represented as taking 
place upon the same people. 

And there was another grand division of the human 
race, called heathen^ or Gentiles. And although these 
particular names were not applied to them in Noah's 
time, there w^as the same description of people. And 
they then constituted a very large portion of the world. 
They were ivithoiit God. i. e. atheists, or idolaters^ 
in the world. And the same description of people, St 
Paul sets forth the Gentiles to be in his day. But to 
this people, men in prison, who through all ages have 
been atheistical and idolatrous, and who even in 
Noah's time were disobedient, insomuch that only feio 
lives were saved upon the water, — to them Christ, after 
his resurrection, preached the gospel by his inspired 
servants, to the enlightening and liberation of thousands. 

St. Peter, who was the first that went with the 
gospel among the Gentiles, speaks on the same subject 
in the 4th chapter of this Epistle. '-For this cause 
was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, 
that they might be judged according to men in the 
flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." 

This verse Wakefield translates thus;— For this. 



384 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



indeed, was the effect of the preaching of the gospel to 
the dead, (the unconverted Gentile,) that some will be 
punished as carnal men, but others lead a spiritual 
life unto God." 

Macknight renders it, ^'For this purpose hath the 
gospel been preached to the dead, (i. e. the Gentiles,) 
that although they might be condemned indeed by 
men, in the flesh, (their persecutors,) yet they might 
live eternally by God in the spirit." 

KnatchbiiWs translation of it is this, — ^'For this 
cause was the gospel preached to them that were 
dead, that they who live according to men in the 
flesh, may be condemned ; but -that they who live 
according to God in the spirit, may live." 

All these agree in understanding the dead in this 
case to mean the Gentiles, They were spiritually in 
pTison and in death. St. Paul, addressing Gentile 
believers, said, ^'You hath he quickened, who were 
dead in trespasses and sins." 

So, then, we have received no message from the 
deeps of hades. But we hear the fiat of Jehovah, pro- 
nouncing the final destruction of hades, by the resur- 
rection of the dead to life. And now, as we are 
about closing our remarks upon this subject, let it be 
observed by the reader, that we have not asserted the 
equality of all men in the resurrection state, in respect 
to all their faculties and graces. We have endeavored 
to walk in the simplicity of gospel truth, receiving and 
reflecting the clear light of revelation. In this light 
we look through the vista of the ages, and see death 
swallowed up in the victory of a higher and better 
life, sin finished, and tears wiped away from off" all 
faces. But what shall be the first emotions of men 
on awaking to the future life, — of men who had closed 



THE RESURRECTION. 



385 



their earthly career at different stages of progress, — we 
say not, for God has not taught us. That they will be 
freed from the positive evils which flesh is heir to, and 
placed in circumstances of vastly greater favor as to 
mental and moral progress, which shall make it a state 
of reconciliation to God, we have abundantly shown 
from the testimony. As for the rest, every one is at 
liberty to philosophize for himself. But this much is 
settled, that the inspired teachers have given us no 
authority for dogmatizing with our philosophies, as if 
they were the essentials of Christian faith and virtue. 

Finally, if we are blessed with that Scripture light 
in which we see the evil of sin, we shall not be envi- 
ous of the wicked. If we have true conceptions of the 
excellence of the Christian knowledge and graces, they 
will constitute the supreme good of our soul's desire. 
And if we have the spirit of Christian perfectness, love 
to God and love to man. the progress of others, even 
from below us, unto the knowledge, and love, and 
enjoyment of our God, instead of troubling our envy, 
will increase our own admiration, thankfulness and 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, AND MORAL 
ACCOUNTABILITY OF MAN. 

" Him, being delivered by the forekno^vledge and determinate council of 
God, ye have taken, and with wicked hands ha^re crucified and slain." 
Acts ii. 23. 

SECTION I . 

The Foreknoicledge and Sovereignty of God. 

The above words of Scripture distinctly set before 
us the reputed perplexing subject of the foreknowledge 
and sovereignty of God, in connection with the moral 
accountability of man. 

It is often asked as an unanswerable question, ^-If 
God, either by his foreknowledge or predetermination, 
or both, has made certain any future character or con- 
duct of his creatures, how are they accountable for 
that conduct?" Many have wrecked their minds 
almost to distraction in makins: effort to settle this i 
inquiry; and not a few, finding themselves unable to 
settle the question to the satisfaction of their own 
minds, have turned away and denied the premises. 
They have discarded the doctrine of God's having 
a determinate counsel, or even a foreknowledge, in 
relation to the future doings of his moral accountable 
creatures. 

That learned and popular commentator, Dr. A. 
Clarke, has furnished us the following labor of con- 
fused thought on this important subject. ^'God is 
omniscient^ and can know all things ; but does it follow 
from this that he must know all things ? Is he not as 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 387 

free in the volition of his wisdom^ as he is in the voli- 
tion of his poicer? God has ordained some things as 
absohitehj certain : these he knows as absolutely certain. 
He has ordained other things as contingent ; these he 
knows as contingent. It would be absurd to say, that 
he foreknows a thing as only contingent, which he 
has made absolutely certain. And it would be as 
absurd to say. that he foreknov/s a thing to be abso- 
lutely certain, which in his own eternal counsel he has 
made contingent. By absolutely certain, I mean a 
thing which must be in that order, time, place, and 
form, in which Divine Wisdom has ordained it to be; 
and that it can be no otherwise than this infinite counsel 
has ordained. By contingent, I mean such things as 
the infinite wisdom of God has thought proper to 
poise on the possibility of being or not being, leaving 
it to the will of intelligent beings to turn the scale. 
To deny this would involve the most palpable contra- 
dictions, and the most monstrous absurdities. ^ ^ Sin 
is no more sin, a vicious hinxLan action is no crime, if 
God have decreed it, and by his foreknowledge and 
will impelled the creature to act it. On this ground 
there can be no punishment for delinquencies : for if 
everything be done as God has predetermined, and his 
determinations must necessarily be all right, then 
neither the instrument -nor the agent has done wrong. 
Thus all vice and virtue, praise and blame, merit and 
demerit, guilt and innocence, are at once confounded, 
and all distinctions of this kind confounded with 
them." 

''Now allowing the doctrine of the contingency of 
human actions, (and it must be allowed in order to 
shun the above absurdities and blasphemies,) then we 
see every intelligent creature accountable for all its 



388 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



works, and for the use it makes of the powers with 
which God has endued it. And to grant all this con- 
sistently, we must also grant, that God foresees 
nothing as absolutely and inevitably certain, which he 
has made contingent; and because he has designed it 
to be contingent, therefore he cannot know it as abso- 
lutely and inevitably certain. I conclude that God, 
though omniscient, is not obliged, in consequence of 
this, to know all that he can know ; no more than he 
is obliged, because he is omnipotent, to do all that he 
can do." 

Such is the reasoning of Dr. Clarke. It will be 
acknowledged that he presents, in its strongest light, 
the popular objection to the doctrine of the foreknowl- 
edge and decrees of God. And he denounces the 
doctrine as involving the most monstrous absurdities 
and blasphemies. But let us see how well or how illy 
he succeeds, in clearing himself from absurdities and 
blasphemies. The Doctor perceived that to say a 
thing is foreknown of God, makes it to be as certain to 
take place, as to say he decreed it; indeed, that his 
foreknowing it involves the fact of his having decreed 
it And this is evident; for though a man may be 
made to foreknow an event which he does not purpose, 
it is because there is a power above him which pur- 
posed it, and reveals to him the knowledge of it. And 
to suppose that God foreknows the events that are to 
come, and yet has not purposed them, would be to 
suppose there is a fate, or some power before God, 
which laid out the chain of events that should come, 
making certain their causes, and then God rose up, and 
by his prescience looked forward, and saw the chain 
of causes and effects which he had no agency in es- 
tablishing, but which a prior power had fixed before 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 389 

him. And this would not relieve the difficulty at all 
in relation to human accountabihty : for if events be- 
longing to the doings of men were foreknown of God 
to be certainly so, and could not be otherwise, whe- 
ther that certainty were founded in the operation of 
causes in the nature of things as fixed by eternal fate, 
or whether it were founded in the purpose of God, the 
question labors in the same perplexity, ^-How is man 
worthy of either praise or blame for what he does?" 

But to escape this difficult}^, Dr. Clarke, (I name 
him because he is the most prominent mouth-piece of 
this sentiment,) denies God's foreknowledge of the 
moral actions of mankind, and so involves himself in 
the strange absurdity, that the omniscient God is igno- 
rant of all future events in relation to the moral char- 
acter and condition of the human race ! Yes, when 
he devised the plan of creating a race of intelligent 
beings, and when he called this race into existence, he 
had no knowledge of what any of them would ever 
do, or of what might be their moral state and condi- 
tion. He chose to be thus ignorant, to leave the 
moral actions and circumstances of all his creatures 
contingent even to himself, having no Imowledge of 
what they would be until they should transpire. So 
then, as the history of the world is a history of doings, 
and circumstances, and events, belonging, directly and 
indirectly, to the moral actions of mankind, we are here 
required to view the history of all nations, from the 
creation of the world unto the present time, as a his- 
tory of undirected contingencies. And the professed 
Christian, with this view, can no more hope in the 
Divine government for any future moral good, than 
the veriest skeptic, who believes in no God. For this 
sentiment represents, nay, it asserts^ that God does not 
33^ 



390 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



purpose — that he does not even know any moral 
transaction or condition of mankind, before it comes to 
pass. This sentiment will afford us no hope for the 
continued happiness of any saint of God. even in the 
immortal state. For it represents that what God fore- 
knows as absolutely certain, it is no virtue or holiness 
in the creature to do, even if it be in itself good. 
Therefore God does not foreknow that there will be any 
holiness in heaven, for if he foreknew it as absolutely 
certain, it would not be holiness. And if God does not 
know that men will be holy in heaven, then he has not 
revealed any such knowledge, and we of course have 
no information on which to hope for future holiness 
and peace. 

Such is the strange and hopeless condition in which 
we of necessity become involved, by assuming the sen- 
timent which denies the purpose and foreknowledge 
of God concerning the moral state of mankind. For 
the reason which they who espouse this sentiment 
offer for so doing is, that if a train of causes and effects 
is fixed of God, so that he foreknows all their opera- 
tions and results, including even the moral actions of 
men, then there is no virtue or vice, no praise or 
blame-worthiness, in human works. The argument 
affects what are called virtuous as well as vicious ac- 
tions, assuming that one class of actions no more have 
merit or virtue in them, than the other class have 
blame, unless God himself is ignorant of them, not 
knowing what they will certainly be, until after they 
take place. Therefore, as they are not willing to give 
up all idea of righteousness and sin in the human char- 
acter, they choose to deny the foreknowledge and de- 
terminate counsel of God in relation to those moral 
concerns. Of coarse they must deny God's positive 
foreknowledge that any portion of his creatures will 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 391 

be righteous in the future world ; for if he have pur- 
posed so as to foreknow what will be their moral 
character there, then there can be no righteousness, as 
well as no sin there. Men must be there without 
moral characters, must cease to be moral beings. And 
11 will that be heaven, where men have no moral char- 
ts acter? Which horn of the dilemma will you take? 
Will you allow that God certainly foreknows the 
characters of men in heaven, and therefore they will 
have no character there ? or will you maintain that 
men will have a moral character in heaven, you 
know not what, and that God is ignorant of what it 
will be ? 

The learned commentator referred to, denounces as 
absurd and blasphemous the sentiment which he is 
pleased to say denies the accountability of man. Is it 
any less absurd and blasphemous to deny the omnis- 
cience of God, and disallow him any share in the 
government of the moral world ; to represent the grand 
concerns of the moral creation as under the sole direc- 
tion of atheistical chance^ and sink the doctrine of a 
Divine revelation and enlightened hope of future moral 
good ? 

But why should we deny either? How happy 
would it have been for the universe, if there had been 
wisdom in the Creator to devise a system of creation, 
so that he could have allowed himself to be omniscient, 
to know and superintend the affairs of his moral crea- 
tures, and yet they be accountable beings, having 
individual moral characters. And such, yes, so hon- 
orable to God and grateful to man, I think we shall 
yet find the fact to appear. 

But some may accuse me of doing injustice to Dr. 
Clarke, in saying that he denies God's omniscience. 



393 COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



He says that God is omniscient True, but he defines 
omniscience to be merely the^ot^erto know all things, 
and not the possession of infinite knowledge. Thus 
while he ascribes to God the term omniscient, he at the 
same time denies the fact of his omniscience, by a false 
definition of the word. For, although all-powerful 
signifies an ability to do all things, yet all-knowing does 
not signify merely an ability to know all things. For 
if ability to know all things constituted omniscience, ^ 
though that ability might not be employed to gain , 
knowledge, or actually to know, then we might be 
presented with an omniscient being actually know- 
ing nothing, choosing to withhold the exercise of 
his power to know, and remaining in utter igno- 
rance. Yes, and upon this definition of knowledge, its 
being the power or capacity to know, then the ignora- ^ 
mus^ who knows not his letters, may be called a wise i 
and learned man, because he had ability to learn, if 
he had chosen to exert that ability for the acquisition 
of knowledge. But it is not so. Omjtiscience is all- 
knowing, the possession of all knowledge. And who- ji 
ever ascribes to God an ignorance of anything past, 
present, or to come, denies his omniscience. 

But Dr. Clarke does not find himself able to carry 
out, uncontradicted, this sentiment of God's voluntary 
ignorance of the moral actions of men. In immediate „ 
connexion with this unaccountable effort of his to limit ^ 
the actual knowledge of God, he gives the following ^ 
full and necessary definition of the Divine omnis- 
cience, which we quoted in a former chapter: — '^God 
cannot have foreknowledge, strictly speaking, because 
this would suppose there was something coming, in 
Avhat we call futurity, which had not yet arrived at , 
the presence of the Deity. Neither can he have any I 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, 393 

afterknowledge, strictly speaking, for this would sup- 
pose something that had taken place, in what we call 
pretereity, or past time, had now got beijond the pres- 
ence of the Deity. As God exists in all that can be 
called eternity^ so he is equally everywhere : nothing 
can be future to hirn, because he lives in all futur- 
ity: nothing can be past to him, because he equally 
exists in all past time; futurity and pretereity are 
relative terms to us ; but they can have no relation to 
that God who dwells in every point of eternity, with 
whom all that is past, all that is present, and all that 
is future to man, exists in one infinite, indivisible, and 
eternal now.^^ 

Who would imagine that the man who could give 
such a definition of the omniscience of God, holds at 
the same time that there was a most important class 
of events, viz., moral events, which had not in the 
beginning, and have not yet, arrived at the presence 
of the Deity? If God dwells in every point of eter- 
nity, so that all that is past, all that is present, and all 
that is future to man, exists with God in one infinite, 
indivisible, and eternal now^ then surely every event, 
moral as well as physical, future as well as past and 
present, is known to God. And being known to God, 
it belongs to a course of operation by a train of causes 
and effects which he has established, and is certain to 
take place. Yes, such an event as the wicked cruci- 
fixion of Jesus Christ, was according to the determi- 
nate counsel and foreknowledge of God, To this con- 
clusion we are brought by our belief in the proper 
omniscience and supremacy of God, and precisely this 
is asserted by the sacred penman in the words at the 
head of this chapter. 

But there is a way which some have, otherwise to 



394 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



dispose of our text. We will refer again to the learned 
commentator before quoted. And here let me remark, 
I do not quote his words by way of controversy with 
Dr. Clarke, nor as a reviewer of his works. I am on a 
a subject, which, to many minds, seems perplexing. 
Certain objections, and attempts at explanation, are 
common among us. And rather than expose myself 
to the charge, or even the suspicion, of not statmg the 
objections and opposing explanations fairly, by givmg 
them in my own language, I choose to present them 
in the language of one of their own strongest and 
boldest authors. This is the only purpose for which 
I quote Dr. Clarke. This commentator says on the 
words which I have placed at the head of this 
chapter, that this determinate counsel ^4s that coun- 
sel of God which defined the time, place, and circum- j 
stance, according to his foreknowledge, which always ' 
saw what was the proper time and place for the 
manifestation and crucifixion of his Son: so that 
there was nothing casual in these things ; God having 
determined that the salvation of a lost world should 
be brought about in this way, and neither the Jews 
nor the Romans had any power here, but what was 
given them from above. It was necessary to show the 
Jews, that it was not through Christ's weakness or 
inability to defend himself, that he was taken ; nor 
was it through their malice^ merely, that he was slain ; 
for God had determined long before, from the founda- 
tion of the world. Rev. xiii. 8, to give his Son a sacri- 
fice for sin ; and the treachery of Judas, and the 
malice of the Jews, were only the incidental means 
by which the counsel of God was fulfilled: the coun- 
sel of God intending the sacrifice; but never ordering! 



ij THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 395 

I 

that it should be brought about by such wretched 
means. This was permitted^ the other was decreed^ 
Here then, we have the wisdom of this world, ex- 
posing its foolishness more and more conspicuously. 
God's determinate counsel defined the time, place, and 
circumstance of the crucifixion of his Son ; he deter- 
mined that his Son should, at that time and place, be 
crucified, but did not determine that anybody should 
do it ! Yes, according to his determinate counsel, he 
delivered his Son into the hands of men, for the pur- 
pose that he might be crucified at the determined time 
and place, but he did not determine, nor even know 
as an absolute certainty, that they would crucify him ! 
That act of men was left undetermined, contingent 
and uncertain, even to God himself, until it took 
place! Does anybody believe this? Can anybody 
believe it ? That God determined that a certain thing 
should be done, and done at a particular time and 
place, and done by men too, and yet did not design 
that men should do it? Is this good sense? If it is, 
I must confess that my own mind is strangely consti- 
tuted. And then, to persons who handle the sacred 
record in this manner, how wonderful must it appear 
that when their God has determined that a particular 
thing shall be done, at a fixed time and place, without 
determining that anybody should do it, men should 
by chance take it into their heads to do that particu- 
lar thing, at the same time and place, and thus with- 
out God's designing it, be the incidental means by 
which God's design is fulfilled ! It seems, then, if it 
were not for the lucky coincidence of these undirected 
chances with the plans of God, his designs would not 
be fulfilled. We shall therefore owe as much praise 
at least to the atheist's chance, as to the Arminian 



396 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



God, for any purposes which may finally succeed, 
affecting the concerns of the moral universe. 
^ But away with these blasphemous and mind-de- 
grading sentiments. We multiply, rather than escape 
our difficulties, by denying the foreknowledge and 
purpose of God concerning the moral state of his 
moral creation, with a view to support the account- 
ability of man. Everything in doctrine is great loss, 
which we must purchase by the sacrifice of the per- 
fections of God. Indeed, all labor to support such a 
view of human accountability as must exclude the 
foreknowledge and purpose of God, is but mere talk, 
mere verbiage, against the sober conviction of the 
understanding of those who employ it. For after all 
is said, the sober conviction of every mind which 
reflects on the subject is, that He who made all 
things, in whom we live and move, knows all the 
events which take place in his moral, as well as in 
his physical creation ; and that they were just as well 
known to him from the beginning, as they are now, 
or ever will be ; and that, of course, all these events, 
of both classes, belong to a chain of causes and effects, 
which is established by the Author of creation, who is 
God alone, who sees the end from the beginning, 
whose counsel shall stand, and he will do all his 
pleasure. It will not avail us, in respect to the appli- 
cation of this sublime doctrine, to make a distinction 
between great and small events, and moral and phys- 
ical. For such are the mutual and alternate bearings 
and connections of these things, that 1 




" From the great chain whatever link you strike. 
Tenth or ten* thousandth, breaks the chain alike." 



All will admit the existence of this great American 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 397 

^tiation to have been embraced in the counsel of God. 
For this, every Christian gives thanks to God, and 
not to luck and chance. But in tracing back the 
chain of events which resulted in the settlement of 
this country by our forefathers, we touch upon thou- 
sands of incidents, among which the most important 
are doings of men, involving both praiseworthiness 
and blame. It required a powerful motive to deter- 
mine those fathers and mothers to tear themselves 
from their loved homes, and friends, and all the dear 
and familiar scenes of earth, and embark upon the 
trackless deep, for a waste howling wilderness upon 
these distant shores. What was the reason ? It was 
their supreme love of their religion. And why should 
this have moved them to such a pilgrimage? Because 
they could not enjoy their religion, and discharge its 
duties at home. What hindered them ? It was the 
wicked and oppressive measures of their government. 
If that government had been otherwise disposed, our 
pilgrim fathers would not have come to these shores, 
and this nation would not have been here. 

Permit me to indulge a little personal reflection. I 
love to regard myself as a child, not of chance, but of 
God. I trace my lineage directly back to members of 
that pilgrim band, who came by the second voyage 
of the May-Flower to the Plymouth shore. Were it 
not for the tyranny of the English crown, as we have 
seen, they would not have come here. And were it 
not for a piece of bribery, which purchased the treach- 
ery of the May-Flower's captain, they would have 
been landed upon the Hudson, and not upon Plymouth 
rock. These important incidents in the train being 
different, thousands of connected and succeeding events 
would have been different, — and / should not have 
34 



398 



C03IPE\I) OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



been here, nor upon the stage of being. When I thus 
meditate, in my devout and reverential confidence in 
God as his child, who hath numbered the very hairs 
of my head, I dare not. I cannot admit the thought, 
that even the conduct of the pilot which disappointed 
the plan of our pilgrim fathers, was a chance, contin- 
gency, or accident, in relation to the government of 
God. 

Let any of my readers take a retrospective view of 
his past life, and he will probably recall some event 
which seemed insignificant at the time, which gave 
such a turn to affairs, as essentially to affect, or totally 
change, the whole subsequent course and condition of 
his life. If the more important events of his life were 
contemplated in the arrangements of the Deity, so 
was that lesser which conduced to them. It belongs 
to a chain of causes and eff'ects, established by the 
wise and benevolent Governor of all. 

Such being the truth, supported by Scripture and 
reason, let us hold it fast. It is the only principle on 
which we can rest the safety of the universe, or enjoy 
any confidence in the government of God. Will you 
say we must deny this, however true it may appear, 
in order to make men accountable beings ? — that to 
admit this, is to do away all accountability, all virtue 
and sin in the children of men ? Be not so easily 
frightened. There is no merit, nor wisdom, nor pru- 
dence, in such rashness. Rather say, that if this sen- 
timent is true, then human accountability is something 
different from what you have imagined. When you 
have found an important truth, do not be frightened 
from it by imagined difficulties. Stand in the light \ 
and the power of that truth, and encounter the ' 
supposed difficulties as faithful Christians. Let the ! 



THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 399 

difficulties comOj and examine them, and they will be 
found not to be. 

''But the difficulty now before us," says one, ''I 
cannot overcome. If man acts as he is induced, by 
the influence of means or causes in the order of things 
established by the foreknowledge and determinate 
counsel of God, how is he accountable, — how is he to 
be praised or blamed, — how is he deserving of reward 
or punishment, for what he does 

To answer this inquiry, to reconcile the doctrines 
of the Divine foreknowledge and purpose, and the 
moral accountability of man, in a manner most con- 
ducive to Christian faith and virtue, will be the labor 
of the succeeding section. 

SECTION II. 

Harmony of the Divine Sovereignty^ and Human 
Accountability. 

It is a question which has confused and perplexed 
many minds, ''If God, by his foreknowledge and 
determinate counsel, has made certain any future 
moral actions of men, how are they accountable for 
those actions The foregoing section offers various 
important considerations preliminary to an under- 
standing of this inquiry, and which urge the mind to 
a most earnest effort to obtain such understanding. 

Some have decided that, on the premises here 
stated, men are not accountable for their conduct, 
have neither moral merit nor demerit. And so, to 
support human accountability, they deny the prem- 
ises, the foreknowledge and purpose of God in rela- 
tion to the moral state of his creatures. Thus they 
have deprived the moral creation of a Divine gov- 
ernment, even of a God ; and have deprived them- 



400 



C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DITIXITY. 



selves of an}" ground of hope for future moral good. 
For if God have no purpose in relation to the moral 
condition of men. because the existence and operation 
of such a purpose would incapacitate men for an 
individual moral character. — then we have no Divine 
purpose to trust in for future moral good, and tlie 
v,^hole Christian system of faith and hope is null 
and void. 

But no man would ever think of denying the fore- 
knovdedge of God. embracing all events, and a fore- 
knowledge the certainty of vrhich is based on the 
original and comprehensive of the all-wise 

Creator and Ruler of the universe, were he not driven 
into the denial b}' affright, lest it should infringe on 
the free agency and the moral accountability of man. 
And to answer the inquiry which has raised this 
bewildering affright, to reconcile the doctrines of the 
Divine foreknowledge and decrees, and the moral 
accountabilit}' of man. in a manner most conducive 
to Christian faith and virtue, is the assigned labor of 
this section of my work. This I shall now attempt 
to do.- — 

1st. Scripturall}^ 

2d. Philosophically. 

1st. I will show from the Scriptures that tlie doc- 
trine of a Divine purpose concerning moral as well 
as physical events, and the moral accountability of 
man for his actions, are both true, and of course con- 
sistent with each other. 

A case in point is placed at the head of this chapter. 
It is furnished us by Peter, Acts ii. 22 : '-'Hmi being 
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowl- 
edge of God. ye have taken, and with wicked hands 
have crucified and slain.** The same sentiment is in 



god's sovereignty and MAN'S ACCGUNTAEILITY. 401 

Acts iv, 27, 2S: ''For of a truth, against thy holy 
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod 
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people 
of Israel, were gathered together ; for to do whatso- 
ever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to 
be done." The sentiment of these Scriptures is, that 
the persecution and crucifixion of Christ by the hands 
of men, was before purposed of God, and also that 
j they were guilty for doing it; they did it with 
^'wicked hands,'' or herein acted a sinful part. 

And when Jesus was yet with his disciples on the 
earth, he foretold to them what persecutions they 
were to suffer at the hands of their religious opposers. 
He described these transactions with all the exactness 
with which an eye witness could describe them in 
history after they had taken place. Of course he had 
committed to him from God, of that prescience^ by 
which he saw those transactions beforehand, and saw 
them to be certain by the operation of causes in the 
fixed order of things under the Divine government. 
They could not be otherwise, because they were 
certain to be so, as Jesus saw and foretold they 
w^ould be. Yet those persecutors were condemned 
for those deeds of malice, and were judged and pun- 
ished for them. 

Look at the case of Pharaoh. God said to Moses, 
when he sent him to Pharaoh with a certain message, 
that he would harden Pharaoh's heart, that he should 
not grant his request. That is, though it was neces- 
sary, as one means of bringing about the designed 
end, that Moses should go to Pharaoh with the mes- 
sage which the Lord directed him to carry, yet he 
knew that the influences in the order of his provi- 
dence, would dispose Pharaoh to refuse compliance 
34^ 



402 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIYINITY. 



with Moses' request. Yet Pharaoh was condemned 
for his conduct, and was punished for it. 

And so we may go through with the whole course 
of the prophetic Scriptures, and we shall find a num- 
berless variety of events predicted, relating to the 
moral character and conduct of man in then future 
time, — conduct both good and evil. If God had, 
according to Dr. Clarke's plan, withheld his knowl- 
edge of these events, and poised them on the pos- 
sibility of being, or not being, so that even in the 
mind of God, they were as likely not to be, as to 
be, how could he have revealed to his prophets the 
certain foreknowledge of them? God foreknew all 
these events as certain to be. and inspired his pro- 
phets to foretell them as certain to be. and all which 
related to times which have come, have certainly 
taken place as they were foretold. Yet the actors in 
these foreordained, and consequently foreknown and 
foretold events, were judged as subjects of praise or 
blame, of reward or punishment, according to the 
parts which they severally acted in them. 

The prophets, for instance, predicted, among other 
things, that at a then future time, many people should 
come and say, ''Let us go up to the house of the 
Lord, to the mountain of the mighty God of Jacob ; 
for he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in 
his paths." It was then certain that this prophecy 
Avould be fulfilled, though it spoke directly and solely 
of the moral actions of men. It was as impossible for 
it to be otherwise, as it is that God should lie. God, 
in the purpose of his government, had provided those 
means of moral influence, which should dispose and 
bring the people thus to return and walk in the paths 
or the laws of the Lord. Yet this walking in the 



god's sovereiGxNty and man's accountability. 403 



laws of God, when it takes place, is reckoned a righte- 
ousness and a merit of reward to them who do so. 

The inspired prophets spoke beforehand of the 
coming and the character of the Messiah. They de- 
scribed with great particularity the character which 
he sustained, and the v/orks which he would per- 
1 form. And he came, and he acted, precisely as they 
I foretold. I think there is hardly a Christian of any 
sect, of so great intellectual and moral perversity 
as not to admit that God purposed, from the begin- 
ning, what character his Son should sustain on the 
earth, and what works he should perform. He 
determined, as the prophet expresses it, to hold his 
Messiah's hand and keep him, to put his spirit upon 
him, and give him wisdom and understanding, and to 
keep him surrounded by the influence of such circum- 
stances and such principles, as that he should certainly 
sustain the character and perform the works which 
were purposed. Yet was there no merit, no virtue, 
no holiness in the character and works of Christ ? 
Because his moral character and works were made 
certain by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
of God, — will you therefore deny that there was any 
merit or virtue in his works? Then you must per- 
ceive that it is not me, but the Bible, that you are 
contending against. For every word of the Bible 
concerning the Messiah's character, shows that he 
acted throughout according to the previously fixed 
purpose of , God, and also that he was a subject of 
approbation and reward, as an accountable being, for 
what he did.^ 

* For further Scriptural and practical illustrations of this subject, the 
harmony of the Divine purpose with the legitimate action of the moral 
agency of man, see Chap. IX., sec. iii., pp. 259 — 262. 



404 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



It seems unnecessary to pursue this division of our 
subject longer, for it is established beyond controversyj 
by authority of Scripture, that God's foreknowledge 
and foreordination of the moral character and works 
of his moral creatures, is compatible with their ac- 
countability to his moral law, and their merit or 
demerit, approvableness or blame, accordingly as their 
actions agree or disagree with the precepts of that 
law. Still some minds remain unsatisfied. They 
are satisfied that I have established my position by 
the authority of the Scriptures, but they are not 
satisfied of the reasonableness even of the Scripture 
sentiments on this subject. Their minds still labor 
under the inquiry, ^' How can it be, even as the 
Scriptures teach, that those moral actions of men 
which are foreknown of God, and embraced as links 
in the great chain of events which he has purposed, 
are in justice appro vable or condemnable, rewardable 
or punishable, by the judgment of God? How can 
men be accountable for such actions?" — I will then 
pass on, 

2dly — To consider the same subject philosophically. 
And here I need do but little more than free the mind 
from certain false ideas attached to the principal words 
which the question employs, and settle upon correct 
views of the sense which these terms bear. What do 
you mean by sin ? Is it a frustration of the Divine 
purposes, and disappointment of the Divine expec- 
tations? If you put this definition upon sin, no 
wonder you cannot conceive how there can be any 
sin, if all events are embraced in the original pur- 
pose of God. You can have no such sin until you ^ 
have dethroned God, and thwarted the purpose of his 
government. 



god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 405 

And what do you mean by blame? Is it an extra- 
neous thing, an external expression from the mouth 
of Godj of disapprobation and disappointed feeling 
toward the sinner? And what do you mean by man's 
moral accountability ? Do you mean that when he 
has done acting in the body, he shall be called before 
God in another state of being, and required to give 
account, relate a history, of what he has done, and the 
reason of his conduct? And what do you mean by 
man's desert of re v/ard or punishment ? Is it that when 
he has accounted of himself as above, if the account 
is in truth favorable, he shall be paid off for the grati- 
fication he has afforded the Deity, with the extraneous 
reward of an endless residence in heaven? And that 
if the account proves unfavorable, God will, for this 
offence, disappointment, and indignity suffered, wreak 
eternal vengeance on the offending sinner's soul? I 
apprehend that the objector's mind is confused with 
some such notions of sin, blame, and accountability. 
And with such a view of the sense of these words, no 
wonder that he should ask in perplexity of mind, 

How is man accountable, how to blame, how pun- 
ishable for what he does, if his actions are induced 
by the influence of circumstances which God arranged 
for this purpose in his own established order of 
things?" 

But we will try not to be deceived by the sound of 
words. We will endeavor to take hold of the knowl- 
edge of facts. What is sin? ''Sin is the transgres- 
sion of the law," Of what law ? Is it the transgres- 
sion of the law or rule of the Divine purpose, by which 
God worketh all things after the counsel of his own 
will? No; it is the law or rule of human happiness, 
or moral right, established in the nature of things, 



406 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



and revealed in the published law, or word of God. 
Then when we violate this law, we sin. This is no 
farce; it is a reality. This law of happiness does 
exist. Though God has published it in his word, it is 
founded in our very nature. And when we violate it. 
the wrong, the sin, does really exist, — because sin is 
the violation of this rule, or law. If God has placed 
us in the midst of circumstances, which for a wise 
purpose he designed should have an influence upon us 
to induce us at times to violate this moral rule or 
law, it does not alter the fact, and make it that there 
is no sin : for this is the sin, it is the violation of this 
law. 

And with regard to accountability ; it is that princi- 
ple which God has established in the constitution of 
his moral creation, by which we are caused to feel 
approbation or disapprobation, happiness or unhappi- 
ness, accordingly as we obey or violate the principles 
of this moral law. And this accountability is real. 
This principle really exists, and will mete happiness 
or unhappiness to man, according to his actions, 
though he acts as he is acted upon by the stronger 
influence of circumstances affecting him. 

Permit me to illustrate this principle by the help of 
a certain principle in physical nature. There is a 
natural law, by which, if you do violence to the prin- 
ciples of your physical nature, you must suffer pain 
as the consequence. If the wound you receive was 
ordered by the providence of God, it removes not this 
fact. While groaning under the pain of a burning 
fever, or a broken limb, if any should remark to 
you that this evil is ordered by a wise and kind 
Providence,— you would not say, ^^If providence 
ordered this event, then I have no disease, no broken 



god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 407 

limb, no pain." The evil is there; it is just as much 
there if it came by order of Divine Providence, as if it 
came by chance. The law of our physical nature 
will continue to inflict the pain, as long as the disease 
counteracts its principles. And moral accountability 
is that principle in our moral nature, which answers 
to the principle just described in our physical nature. 
It is really there, and will inflict pain on our violation 
of the law of our moral constitution, just as certainly 
as the other principle will cause pain upon any viola- 
tion of the law of physical nature. And this pain 
which proceeds from a violation of the moral law, is 
called punishment. Hence, man is accountable and 
punishable for a violation of the moral law, and that 
in perfect consistency with the doctrine of the Divine 
purpose embracing the moral as well as physical cir- 
cumstances of mankind. So, if the question of account- 
ability be reiterated in another form, asking, why 
should men be punished for doing what they are 
induced to do by circumstances foreknown of God, 
the answer is, the punishment is not an arbitrary 
infliction of revengeful torture, but it is the necessary 
evil which belongs to the violation of the moral law. 
Such is the moral nature of man, that the exercise and 
practice of hatred, jealousy, injustice, or any evil prin- 
ciple, must as necessarily produce the moral woe 
called punishment, as physical disease causes bodily 
pain. 

And the institution and administration of this retri- 
butive principle of accountability is just and rights 
because it is good, it is corrective. If the child could 
put his fingers into the fire without pain, he might 
burn them ofl" before he should become old enough to 
make them useful. The pain which accompanies 



408 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



certain destructive circumstances of the body, induces 
us to guard against those circumstances. And so the 
pains or punishments of sin exert an influence to 
guard us against sin. And they do, to a great 
extent, prove efficacious. That constitution of our 
moral nature by which we shrink from the touch of 
evil principles, as we shrink from the touch of fire to 
our flesh, operates to a great extent to preserve man- 
kind from moral disease. And even those pxmish- 
ments which God has sometimes inflicted by a special 
interposition of external providence, are also just and 
right because infinite wisdom sees them necessary as a 
means for the proper exercise of his moral government 
over the world. 

I think that our general subject is cleared from diffi- 
culty. Only cease from using words without definite 
ideas, and come down to a view of facts, rather than 
dally upon the sound of words, and all appears clear. 
God is viewed and adored in all his infinite perfections, 
as the all- wise and omniscient Governor of the natural 
and moral world, — and man also, by a wise and benev- 
olent economy of God, accountable^ i. e. rewardable and 
punishable for his conduct. And these truths must 
have existed for the glory of God and the good of man. 
If God had not devised a plan, and did not exercise a 
government to carry that plan into eff*ect, in relation to 
the moral as well as the natural circumstances of his 
creation, he would have been unworthy of human 
confidence and praise. And if he had not subjected 
men to this principle of moral accountabihty, they 
would not have been capacitated for coming up into 
that peculiar species of individual enjoyment as moral 
beings, for which they are designed. The more we 
examine this subject, the more we see and admire the 



god's sovereignty and* man's accountability. 409 

consummate wisdom and goodness of God, in the con- 
stitution and government of the m.oralj as well as of 
the natural world. 

With a few brief remarks on the practical influence 
of a belief in the doctrines of this chapter, I will 
conclude. Some have thought that this belief is 
unfriendly to the cause of virtue. But so widely do I 
differ, as to think that no sentiment is so friendly to 
virtue's cause. The sentiment which I have advo- 
cated is not that of some predestinarians, who hold to 
the arbitrary decrees of God, executed by a constant 
miraculous exertion of Divine power impelling men to 
action, and to arbitrary and revengeful punishments. 
The decrees of God are founded in the constitution of 
things : in the connections and dependencies of circum- 
stances and events. The actions of men are induced 
by circumstances, so that with the creature they are 
voluntary ; or /ree, if you will take the word free to 
apply to the voluntary action of the mind, not com- 
pelled by outward force. This is the only sense in 
which man's agency is free. It is not free in a sense 
to be able to Vvnll one thing as well as another, under 
circumstances the same. God himself is not free in 
this sense. His holy nature admits of no freedom to 
do wrong as well as right. ''It is impossible for God 
to lie." He is free to do his pleasure; he is free to 
choose what he will. But it would be irreverence to 
say that he can will to do evil, or the lesser good. 
And with regard to our moral freedom, it consists only 
in the fact that the mind acts by the influence of 
motives operating within itself, so that its own consent 
is obtained. Indeed, we are as morally free as we 
could be, surromided by the circumstances in the midst 
of which we are placed, even if there were no intelli- 
35 



410 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



gent power above ns. The difference between us and 
some others, is chiefly in this; that the direction of 
the circumstances affecting the influences that bear 
upen us, is of the government of God, and not of athe- 
istical Chance or heathen Fate. But God does not, by 
any direct interposition, interfere with the vohtions 
of our minds. They are onr own, in the sense 
in which our existence is our own. But that our ' 
choice is influenced by motives, and those motives by 
circumstances, no man will deny, unless he shuts his 
eyes upon himself And why should one wish to 
shut his eyes upon the knowledge of himself, and of 
man? How important is a knowledge of the facts 
which we have brought to view in relation to man, in 
its practical bearing. We must understand the nature 
of human agency, and the principle of government 
over mind by moral influences, in order to apply a 
successful system of moral education. And with the 
true knowledge of man in this respect, we shall both 
be able to conduct the better system of moral disci- 
pline, and at the same time to see that God may 
accomplish all his purposes with regard to the moral 
state of his creatures, and even bring them all to 
worship and adore him, by the operation of causes 
which shall induce their own voluntarj^ action. 

One circumstance which repels the consent of the 
mind to acts of wrong, and inclines it to the choice of 
virtue, is the discovery of the principle of accounta- 
bility, which has just been explained, connecting hap- 
ness with virtue, and misery with vice. And moral 
and religious instruction is a means of placing this cir- 
cumstance in its healthful influence, before the mind. 

By the constitution of nature which God has given 
us, we as strongly desire happiness, and dislike misery, 



god's sovereignty and man's accountability. 411 

with our belief in the foreknowledge and government 
of God, as if we believed that the affairs of the moral 
creation were left to the blind sport of chance. We 
admire the wisdom of God in the constitution of our 
moral as Avell as of our physical nature. Our innate 
desire of happiness, with the objects around us affect- 
ing that desire^ excites us to action; the knowledge of 
the connexion between sinful actions and misery, 
repels our choice of sin : and our acquaintance with 
the fact that virtue's fruit is happiness, induces our 
choice of virtue's road. And this view of the principle 
of accountability as being founded in the moral consti- 
tution of our nature, and being certain in its awards, 
must have a better and steadier moral influence, than 
the opposite view of its being extraneous and uncertain. 

Thus nothing is lost, but rather something is gained, 
by the doctrine of this chapter, as it respects the moral 
influence of the doctrine of rewards and punishments. 
And then everything is hereby gained on the score of 
confidence in God, and pious hope, and gratitude and 
praise. It is only in the light of this sentiment, that, 
when, with Paul, we have viewed the human creation 
made subject to vanity, and have seen the reign of 
moral as well as natural evil, even of unbelief and 
sin, — we can look through the cloud of darkness, rise 
above the jarring elements of moral contrarieties, and 
rest on the perfect government of God for the consum- 
mation of a purpose, to eventuate in the highest uni- 
versal good ; — yes, and with that holy apostle exclaim 
in pious rapture, ''O the depth of the riches both of 
the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past finding 
out. ^ ^ For of him, and through him, and to 
him; are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



FAITH, REPENTANCE, AND THE NEW BIRTH. 
SECTION I. 
Faith. 

The Christian faith is a beUef and trustful confi- 
dence in Christian truth. It is a plain and interesting 
subject; yet human theology has defrauded the mind 
of its blessed simplicity, by throwing around it the 
garb of mystery. And not a few there are, whom 
education has so accustomed to associate religion and 
mystery, that an intelligible, common-sense doctrine 
is hardly viewed as possessing the dignity which 
belongs to religion. 

Our present subject is defined by Dr. Brown, in his 
Dictionary of the Bible, in the following manner : — 
Saving faith is that gracious quality, principle or 
habit wrought in the heart by the Spirit tailing the 
things of Jesus and showing them to us, whereby we 
receive and rest alone on Christ for salvation as he is 
ofi'ered to us in the gospel. By this faith we are 
united to his person, as our spiritual head and hus- 
band, and he dwelleth in our heart ; are interested in 
his righteousness and fulness; and by improvement 
thereof, become bold before God, and active in his 
service. This is the faith of God's elect, as none but 
they are made sharers of it, and they alone are in the 
faith; that is. possessed of, and act according to the 
principles of it. Faith, as a habit or principle, is 
implanted in every regenerated infant, even though 
the word of God can neither be the means of their 



FAITH, REPENTANCE, AND THE NEW BIRTH. 413 

regeneration, nor can they act faith on it, as it is 
unknown to them." 

■ Now who can understand the nature of the Chris- 
tian faith, from this definition of it? What is it? 
and how will you go at work to obtain it? Why, the 
author above quoted says, ^"it is that gracious quality, 
principle, or habit, wrought in the heart by the Spirit 
taking the things of Christ and showing them to us." 
The elect only can have it; and even elect infants 
may possess it, though they have no understanding. 
And if elect infants may have it without understand- 
ing, of course elect men and women may possess the 
Christian faith likewise, while as ignorant of the 
truths of the gospel as those regenerated infants ! 

The proper Christian faith, then, as thus defined, 
does not, as St. Paul describes it, come by hearing the 
loord of God^ nor by reading or understanding it. It is 
an imagined inexplicable something, supposed to be 
miraculously wrought in the person's constitution, 
before he can understand or receive God's word. Of 
course, it no more comes through the medium of the 
understanding, than does the curdling chill of the 
blood in the cold winter's blast. 

It is the prevalence of this view of rehgious faith, 
that exposes so many minds to slavish entanglement in 
dark and absurd theological schemes. When they have 
imbibed the opinion that faith is a mysterious qual- 
ity," wrought by the Spirit of God, but not through 
the means of instruction and enlightenment of the 
mind, they are then in a situation to be imposed upon 
by the sleight of men. Any frame or emotion of 
feeling, which even the impostor's operations excite, 
maybe dignified into the gracious 'Equality" of the 
Christian faith. 

35^ 



414 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



But as I said in the outset, our subject is not in 
itself mysterious. Christian faith is the reception, with 
a lovingj trusting heart, of Christian truth. St. Paul 
says it '4s the substance of things hoped for, and the 
evidence of things not seen." ^ It is to be obtained, 
then, through the medium of evidence. Hence the 
same apostle says, in another place, — -'So then faith 
Cometh by hearing, and hearmg by the word of God." ^ 
The word hearing^ in this case, includes reading, or 
any means of instruction by which to come at the 
word of God. When we read the Scriptures, the 
word of God speaketh unto us through the inspired 
record ; and if we ponder and understand, we hear the 
word of God. 

If, then, we are to obtain faith by the means of hear- 
ing, what shall we believe? Everything we hear? Is 
the mere fact of our hearing a thing said, the only condi- 
tion of our belief in it ? If so, we must believe a most 
mammoth collection of contradictions and absurdi- 
ties. Our faith mast be a vast reservoir of all the 
good and evil, truth and falsehood, which we read or 
hear. No : this hearing by which the true faith 
Cometh, is by the v:ord of God. And even what we 
hear alleged as the word of God, we must not receive 
implicitly; for there are diverse sentiments whose 
abettors assure us that they are the sentiments of 
God's word. "Beloved," saith an apostle, -'believe 
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are 
of God; because many false prophets are gone out 
into the world." You must try what you hear, by the 
accredited record of Divine truth. So did the noble 
Bereans, who heard the preaching of Paul. ''They 
received the word with all readiness of mind, (that is, 



a Heb. xii. 1. 



b Rom. X. 17. 



REPENTANCE. 



415 



they received it for examination.) and searched the 
Scriptures daily. Avhether these things were so : there- 
fore many of them beheved.** 

Hence it is seen that there is nothing more forbid- 
ding to the reasoning mind in the subject of faith, 
than in any valuable matter of human inquiry. It 
invites the attention of all, young and old, grave and 
gay, as a subject you may investigate, understand, 
feel, enjoy. It is the belief of the word of God, 
which by the gospel is preached unto you, and which 
addresses itself to your reason and conscience. And 
while the faith of the gospel is the belief of its teach- 
ings, it involves a confiding trust in the government 
of God, that in life or death, for time and eternity, the 
full heart can exclaim, JEHOYAH-JIREH.*' ^ 

SECTION II. 
Repentance. 

Repentance, as it is taught in the Scriptures, is a 
change or alteration of mind and character for the 
better. The original word {inetanoeo, to repent) is 
defined by Parkhurst as meaning, -'to understand 
afterw^ards, to be wise after a fact committed, to change 
one^s mind and opinion so as to influence for the better 
his subsequent conduct." It involves, of course, the 
idea of reformation. It means something more than 
sorrow on account of certain wrong committed; for 
one may regret having done certain evil things, not 
that he has really changed his mind as to the pursuit 
of the same course, but because he is detected and 
suff'ers punishment for his wrong. Sorrow and repent- 
ance are not synonymous, though ''godly sorrow 

c Gtin. xsii. 14. And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah- 
Jirehj" i. e., God wiU proude. 



416 



COxMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented 
of." ^ That iSj godly sorrow for sin worketh a change, 
a reformation of mind and conduct. 

It is hence perceived that gospel repentance includes 
a change of mind and affections with regard to sin 
itself. Consequently, when we hear professing Chris- 
tians remark, that if they could throw off certain for- 
eign and extraneous fear, such, for instance, as the 
fear of the fabled Tartarus of Pluto, they would care 
not for the service of God, but would take their fill of 
sin, we know they have not passed through the work 
of Christian repentance. Their hearts are in love 
with sin; they are '-in the gall of bitterness, and in 
the bond of iniquity." Their professed repentance is 
a mere piece of wary policy. It is like the case of the 
supposed dying man, who ordered his son to convey 
back to his neighbor's barn an item of stolen property, 
but on finding himself convalescent countermanded 
the order, and had the property retaken to his own 
use. There was the passion of fear, but no inward 
hatred of sin. 

There is a good illustration of the subject of repent- 
ance in the parable of the prodigal son. It is true the 
sufferings of the poor wanderer were a means of bring- 
ing him to himself, to his sober reflections. And this 
is a fac-simile of all punishment in the government of 
God, as to its purposed use. It is to check, restrain, 
and bring the transgressor to himself. But the prod- 
igal was not governed by the consideration of any 
extraneous harm, any future revenge, from an enraged 
father. He was in a lost condition ; sin itself was his 
most dreadful enemy; and he had no prospect, in 
transgression's path, but darkness and woe. He 

^2 Cor. vii. 10. 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



417 



turned his back upon his sins, and returned to his 
father's house. And the congratulation which he met 
upon his return was, not that he had thus averted the 
father's wrath, which would have inflicted a dreadful 
death upon him, but that he had escaped from the death 
in which his sins had involved him. This, thy bro- 
ther, was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and 
is found." 

Such, then, is gospel repentance ;— to see yourself 
away from the Father's service, — to feel your dreadful 
moral deprivation in the way of error, — to appreciate 
the excellence of God and your obligations to serve 
him, — and come home, with a contrite loving heart, to 
God, to truth and duty. Such a repentant will not 
draw back unto perdition. 

SECTION III. 

The New Birth. 

Jesus said unto Nicodemus, who came by night to 
pay him a respectful compliment, Except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'^ ^ The 
kingdom of God, or of heaven, is usually employed in 
the Scriptures to denote the spiritual reign of Christ. 
The prophets had foretold the coming of the Messiah, 
who should establish a kingdom of righteousness and 
peace. The Jews generally were expecting that this 
kingdom would be a temporal one, swayed and sup- 
ported by physical force. And even the chosen disci- 
ples of Jesus, what time he was with them on earth, 
though they learned much of the nature of his religion, 
did not understand to apply the term kingdom to it, — 
but for this they were looking for a worldly reign, 



e John iii. 3. 



418 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



which should break the Roman yoke, and restore to 
Israel their former, and more than their former politi- 
cal freedom and glory. But when they had learned 
that the kingdom of Jesus is a spiritual kingdom, they 
doubtless understood in a new and clear light such 
previous sayings of their Master as these: — ^^Go, 
preach the kingdom of God ; " ^ ^' The kingdom of God 
is come unto you;"= The kingdom of God cometh 
not with observation ; neither shall they say, lo here ! 
or lo there ! for behold, the kingdom of God is within 
you ; ''^ and again, The kingdom of heaven is hke 
unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.*" 
The kingdom of God being a spiritual kingdom, it is, 
then, in literal terms, the 7^eligion of Jesus. It is 
called a kingdom with reference to its government of 
the hearts and lives of men. That, indeed, is very 
literally a kingdom, which controls the inner man, — 
which forms the mind, directs the will, and governs 
the life. And it is the kingdom of God and of heaven, 
because it is of God, and in its nature heavenly. 

Such being the kingdom of God, the qualifications 
for an inheritance of it must be spiritual, and not 
worldly. Accordingly, when Nicodemus came to 
Jesus by night, in a favorable opinion of him to be 
sure, but rather with the etiquette of worldly courtiers 
than with the spirit of the Christian warfare^ the Mas- 
ter said unto him, Except a man be born agaiuj he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Though I take the sentiment expressed by these 
words, in a general application, yet I will prepare the 
reader's mind for a better understanding of it, by a few 
remarks on the use of the particular language in the 

f Luke ix. 2. ? Matt. xii. 28. h Luke xvii. 21. » Matt. xiii. 24, 



THE XEliV BIRTH. 



419 



case before us. Why did Jesus employ this particular 
form of expression here, to signify a change which he 
usually described by other language ? I will offer 
some reasons for beheving that he designed this lan- 
guage in particular, for application to the Jews, a 
ruler of whom he was addressing. 

One circumstance to be noticed is. that the Jews 
were expecting the benefits of the Messiah's kingdom, 
on the ground of their natural relation to Abraham. 
I When Jesus, on a certain occasion, informed them by 
' what means they might become free, they said, We 
be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any 
man: how sa3'est thou, ye shall be made free?'' 
'•Jesus answered them, Yerily, verily, I say unto you, 
whosoever committeth sin, is the servant (or slave) 
of sin." They would have it, that, as they were Abra- 
ham's seed, that was enough. They w^ere never in 
bondage, and they needed not to be made free. And 
so with regard to the kingdom of the promised Mes- 
siah, — they supposed that when he should come, they 
should, of course, as the children of Abraham, enjoy 
his immediate favor, and inherit the benefits of his 
kingdom. They supposed that they, as the natural 
posterity of Abraham, in distinction from other na- 
tions, were the legitimate heirs, by natura] birth, of 
this distinguishing favor. But Jesus insisted that they 
needed a change. They were slaves to error and 
vice, and needed a liberation from their thraldom. Or, 
in the words employed in the present case, they must 
be horn again. Their natural birth did not entitle 
them, more than others, to the kingdom of God ; they 
must be born again, horn from above, as the marginal 
reading is, by the v.^ord of God. This was an appro- 
priate figure of speech to be applied to those who were 



420 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIA.N DIVINITY. 



erroneously expecting to inherit the kingdom of Christ 
by virtue of their natural birth as Abraham's progeny, 
- — to tell them they must be born again^ by the influ- 
ence of principles from above, in order to enjoy that 
blessing. 

In the second place, there was a common form of 
speech among the Jews, quite similar to this, which 
they applied to the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism. 
They used to say that a Gentile convert ivas as a 
neio-horn child^ and had commenced a new life. The 
use of such language among the Jews, in relation 
to Gentile converts, is what justifies Christ's reproof 
to Nicodemus, when he put so strange a construction 
as he did on the expression, ^'born again," — saying, 
^^Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these 
things?" This censure cast upon Nicodemus would 
have been arbitrary, unless there had been some use 
of language in Israel, with which he as a master in 
Israel must have been familiar, which should have 
led him to put a more rational and correct construc- 
tion on the words uttered by Christ. But the fact 
now adduced explains and justifies the censure; for 
as the Jews reckoned that a proselyte to their religion 
from Gentilism, was as a new-born child, he should 
not have regarded it as an absurd use of language for 
Christ to say that even the Jews^ to inherit his reli- 
gion, must be born again, or become as new-born 
children. 

That this particular form of speech was designed 
for a special application to the Jews, is furthermore 
evident, from the circumstance that in all the recorded 
teachings of the apostles, when the ministry of the 
gospel was extended to the Gentiles as well as Jews, 
this form of speech is not employed to express Chris- 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



421 



tian conversion, except in one instance in the first 
Epistle of Peter, which was written especially for con- 
verted Jews: — '^Seeing ye have purified your souls, 
in obeying the truth through the spirit, unto unfeigned 
love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with 
a pure heart fervently ; being born again, not of cor- 
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, 
which liveth and abideth forever."^' And St. John, 
who recorded the words of Christ referred to, intro- 
duces into his Epistles a similar form of speech, bei?ig 
born of God. ^^He that loveth is bom of God, and 
knoweth God, for God is love." These epistles, 
though they may have been addressed to believers in 
general, were written by one whose ministry was 
chiefly among the Jews. 

But because the phrase, born again, is employed in 
two or three cases in the New Testament, for a partic- 
ular application to the Jews, who were depending 
on their distinction of natural birth, — some have raised 
a doctrine from it but little less strange than were the 
ideas which Nicodemus at first attached to this form 
of speech. They have associated with these words 
the idea of a sort of change, or production of a ne\/ 
moral nature, which, in every individual so changed 
constitutes as real, direct, and great a miracle, as the 
causing of the sun to stand still, or the raising of the 
literally dead to life. 

So strangely blinded have some minds become on 
this subject, that they are incapable of receiving any 
rational ideas in relation to it. You may describe the 
real Christian conversion in the most plain and intel- 
ligible language, even in the language in which the 
Scriptures usually describe it, and they will not be 

j 1 Peter i. 22. 

36 



422 



COMPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



aware that you have preached the doctrine of the 
new birth. Much that you have spoken, they will 
say, is good so far as it goes. You seem to hold that 
■\ve must, in order to enjoy the happiness of the king- 
dom of God, study, understand, believe, feel and prac- 
tise, the true principles of the gospel ; but then you do 
not urge the necessity of the neiv birth ; our Saviour 
says, -'-Ye must be born againP Thus they are so 
blinded by a false idea attached to a figurative expres- 
sion, that while they describe the very change which 
is expressed by the phrase, being born again^ and ac- 
knowledge that you hold it, they yet judge that you 
do not hold the doctrine of the new birth. 

Now the Christian new birth is comprised in the 
very things which are stated above, — studying^ an- 
derstanding^ believing^ feeling and practising^ the true 
principles of the gospel. St. Peter so describes it in 
the case which we have quoted from him: — Seeing 
ye have purified your souls, in obeying the truth 
through the spirit, — see that ye love one another with 
a pure heart fervently: — being born again, — by the 
xcord of God,''' Thus is the new birth defined as be- 
ing produced by the influence of the word of God, 
which is preached by the gospel ; and as being enjoyed 
and manifested by obedience of the same word of 
truth. And believing and obeying the gospel did 
indeed produce such a change with the Jews, as far as 
they received it, as made them new-born children. It 
brought them entirely into new views concerning the 
kingdom of the Messiah, into new feelings towards 
mankind, and into new hopes and expectations. And 
however they might boast of their relation to father 
Abraham, and their favor with God in the possession 
of his oracles, these new views, new feelings, and new 



THE NEW BIRTH, 



423 



hopes and expectations, they must have. — they must 
be bom into them, in order to inherit the Messiah's 
reUgion, the kingdom of God. 

Though the words referred to were spoken by our 
Lord for a particular application to the Jews of that 
age. yet a similar change to what was meant by these 
words, is necessary for all men of all ages, to be ex- 
perienced in a greater or less degree, according to 
previous character and circumstances. Xo one is 
naturally born in possession of the light of Divine 
truth, nor does he by his physical growth come into 
possession of it. Though he may gradually come 
into the knowledge and enjoyment of it from child 
hood, being trained up in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord, yet the same change in substance is ex- 
perienced, for his enjoying the religion of the gospel. 
He does not have to be changed so much actual 
error and moral corruption, as were the Jews who 
were converted to Christianity in the Saviour's time. 
But he is and must be changed from ignorance, from a 
state of destitution with regard to these things, into the 
knowledge and practice and enjoyment of them. He 
has been born into the world a living soul: but he 
must be born again, intellectually and morally. The 
mind must, by cultivation, be made a fruitful field, or 
it will be overgrown with thorns, and become a waste 
wilderness. 

I do not by this give countenance to the idea that 
human nature is radically and totally corrupt. Human 
nature may be good enough ; but we know that so it 
always has been, and so it is, that when the human 
mind has been let alone, — when it has not been culti- 
vated and disciplined by the teachings of truth from 
God, so as to be born from above, — it has become en- 



424 



C03IPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVLVITY. 



cumbered with weeds of noxious errors. So, for a 
wise purpose. God has constituted and circumstanced 
the human mind. It must be changed from ignorance 
to knowledge^ — and from knowledge to knowledge, 
from glory to glory^ by the culture of Christian truth. 

A correct view of man in this respect, is of great 
importance, both with regard to our treatment of 
ourselveSj and of the rising generation. Concerning 
ourselves, it is not enough that we can boast of our 
relationship to patriots and freemen. We may boast 
of our political and religious rights, into the inherit- 
ance of which we are born: but we must be born 
again : the mind must be enlightened with truth and 
stored with goodness^ or we cannot see the kingdom 
of God. the blessed reign of moral liberty and peace. 

And with regard to our treatment of the rising gen- 
eration. — ^we are urged by the sentiment before us. to 
strive for their Christian education. This will lay 
the foundation of all other good m life. It will recon- 
cile the young aspiring mind to the government of 
God, and fill the soul with hope in his goodness. It 
will render the study of his law dehghtful. and ele- 
vate the affections to the pure and the good. 

Willi joy it cro^-ns succeeding yearSj 
And renders virrue strong."' 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IN FORMING THE LIFE. 

Having now, after exceeding my intended limits, 
presented the reader with what I regard as a com- 
pend of the Christian doctrines, I will close with a 
brief chapter on the practical influence of these doc- 
trines in forming the life. 

1. The system of faith herein comprised, involves 
the practical exercise of Supreme Confidence in God. 
It evinces, in all its principles and parts, the infinite 
perfectness of God in all his adorable attributes. By 
the light of its teachings we see the eternal Father, in 
the perfectness of his knowledge a,nd wisdom, the 
infinity of his love, the excellence of his justice, the 
almightiness of his power, and the indissolubility and 
glory of his grace. It does not ascribe these perfec- 
tions to God in 7iame merely, and at the same time, in 
describing the purposes and operations of his creation 
and government, make him short-sighted, unwise, in- 
consistent, feeble, and unkind; — but it exhibits these 
adorable perfections in all the Creator's purposes and 
doings. In the creation of this beautiful world and 
its furniture for man ; in the constitution of our bodies, 
and of our minds, and of all the interesting relations 
in which we are placed ; in subjecting us to high 
duties as his children, by the institution of laws 
adapted to our being as made in the Divine image; 
in the annexation of penalties to those laws, and the 
administration of judgment in their execution ; and in 
36=^ 



426 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



the grand purpose of his grace revealed through Jesus 
Christ our Saviour, — in all these plans and operations 
of Godj we see the harmonious action of all his per- 
fections. All concur to promote the wise and good 
design, to rear up, discipline, and qualify, a great 
family of children, to enjoy with the Father immortal 
felicity, 

The faith of this great and harmonious system of 
truth, when it has existence in the mind, must pro- 
duce a most peaceful confidence in God. We cannot 
fear any ultimate harm from the operations of his 
government. Even when disappointments and trou- 
bles become a portion of our allotment, we rest in 
hope, seeing that unerring wisdom is overruling pres- 
ent evil for ultimate good. 

" This can my fears control, 
And bid my sorrows fly ; 
Wliat real harm can reach my soul, 
Beneath my Father's eye 

In this faith we have also a double enjoyment of 
the blessings of life. It enables us to receive the daily 
gifts of his providence, as the kind benefactions of an 
almighty Father, whose goodness will never leave 
nor forsake us, but be more and more visibly dis- 
played forever and ever. 

" Thus we can with his people taste 
The blessings of his love. 
While hope attends the sweet repast 
Of nobler joys above." 

2. The faith of the Christian system, as here ex- 
hibited, involves also the exercise of Supreme Love to 
God. This is indeed comprised in the confidence just 
described. For where there is confidence there must 



THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN LIFE. 



427 



be love. You cannot exercise supreme confidence in 
any being, unless you can view him in a character 
supremely lovely. Neither can you love a being 
supremely, unless you can view him in a character 
perfectly trustworthy. Confidence and love are twin 
sisters. 

Now it is the first great commandment of the moral 
laWj that we love the Lord our God with all our 
heart. And it is the purpose of the Christian mission 
to bring the moral creation into the blessed service of 
this love, in the spirit of reconciliation to God. This 
can never be done but by the power of reason and 
love. Men may be taken and thrown by brute force 
into one or another posture; or they may be driven 
by slavish fear into proscribed professions, attitudes, 
and genuflections ; but in these operations there is 
nothing akin to virtue, or related to the service of 
God. For a dumb and senseless idol, a blind and 
senseless worship may sufiice : — but to the God of 
supreme intelligence and glory, no worship is accep- 
table, but that which is rendered in the understand- 
ing, and in the spirit of sentimental gratitude and 
love. But no man can love God until he has so 
learned the truth as to see him in his loveliness. It is 
not an aff'ection into which the mind can force itself 
without a reason. But in the light of truth, and the 
communion of love Divine, the soul can respond to 
the beloved disciple, ^^We love him because he first 
loved us." So certainly did the apostle view it a set- 
tled principle, that when a man has a true and effect- 
ive knowledge of the character of God, he will love 
him, that he boldly aflirms, '"He that loveth not, 
knoweth not God; for God is love.'' He who knows 
God, therefore, will love him. Hence, it is the econ- 



428 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



omy of God's wisdom, for the reconciliation of man to 
himselfj to make known his everlasting love, and his 
effective grace. 

It is on this point especially, that the wisdom of the 
world is foolishness with God. Human policy has 
suggested, that even if God's great purpose of unfail- 
ing grace for mankind is true, it is not wise and prw- 
dent to promulgate such truth. But the inspired 
apostle assures us, that in making known unto us 
the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure 
which he hath purposed in himself, that he might 
gather together in one, all things in Christ," — God 
hath abounded toioard us in all wisdom and prudence."* 
He knows what is in the moral nature of man; he 
knows by what influences his heart is to be won to 
the Source of all good ; and accordingly, the very first 
aim of the gospel mission is, to assure his children, 
even his lost and sinful children, that he loves them. 
"God commendeth his love towards us, in that while 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Herein is 
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 
Go, then, ye servants of Jesus, and fear not that it 
shall harm the children to let them know that the 
Father loves them. 

3. Christianity, which it has been the labor of this 
volume to condense from the Scriptures, produces a 
filial respect for the Law of God^ and obedience to its 
Precepts, The confidence in God, before described, 
will naturally beget the assurance that his laws are 
the laws of a friend, wisely framed, and adapted to 
our welfare. It is not from a peaceful confidence in 
God that men are led into sin. It is from a distrust 

aEph. 1. 8—10. 



THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE IN LIFE. 



429 



of God's wisdom and goodness, a dissatisfaction with 
his government and laws^ and a hope to do better for 
themselves by pursuing their own ways. The human 
doctrines of revenge, ascribed to the government of 
God, will not effect the needed reform. Look upon 
the more hardened sinners, and you will see that these 
are the principles which have formed their hearts, the 
moral atmosphere which they inhale. Their very 
throat is an open sepulchre, f: peopiv ich issue per- 
petual streams of '.nge'ccua ndi cha^^" " The same 
streams issuing frdiange is in pr 'h not refine them. 
They need the conta. heavenh^^xferent moral element, 
that of love Divine, i ney need light, the light of 
truth, to see that God's love is not interposed between 
them and their best good in life, but leads them in the 
way of peace. Let them have the clear light of the 
Father's law, as presented in the fourth chapter lof 
this work, and then the same motive, the love of life 
and good days, which prompts mankind to all their 
ordinary labors, will return them to obedience and 
duty. And if, in an evil hour, one is tempted by the 
thoughts of greater good in sin, the truth we have 
exhibited on the penalties of the law^ will counteract 
the evil. It will sound the caution in his ear, Do 
thyself no harm ;" There is no peace to the wicked 

Destruction and misery are in their ways Though 
hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpun- 
ished." 

Here, then, is a perfect system of faith and practice. 
It secures the highest principle of virtue, confidence in 
God, and at the same time preserves the assurance of 
punishment in case of wrong. And one of these prin- 
ciples of action is not countervailed by the other. Our 
confidence in God does not free us from the assurance 



430 C03IPEXD OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 

of punishment in case we transgress, — nor does our 
fear of punishment interfere with, or weaken our con- 
fidence in God. This is the beautiful and practical 
harmony of Christian Divinity^ peculiar to itself, un- 
known in the religions of human schools. 

But, above all, as we have remarked before, the 
supreme principle of virtue is love. We have attended 
to the first commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God.'' TU. mwnd is like unto it, or rather is 
involved in it, ' 5jdll, adcoV^A^gto ty neighbor as thy- 
self.'' Like begettetsed in himsebgetteth love. The 
manifestation of God sU things us brings us into the 
reciprocity of this love Divme ; — and then it fills the 
soul with the spirit of communicative goodness. And 
this spirit of communicative goodness, the principle of 
pure philanthropy, of universal kindness, is the moral 
power by which man can reach, win, and save his 
brother man. 

We thank God that this supremely important prin- 
ciple is becoming better understood. It seems, in 
truth, to be getting enthroned as the ruling genius of 
the age. What a change the power of kindness is 
working in civilized society ! The rulers of the world 
have been mainly depending, for the orderly govern- 
ment of mankind, on tyrannic severity and brute 
violence. They have deemed knowledge and free- 
dom among the people to be unsafe, and their gov- 
ernment has been based upon perpetual warfare 
against the dearest rights and purest aspirations of 
the human soul. Hence, their thrones have been 
erected in seas of blood, the waves of which, rebound- 
ing, have again dashed them to ruin. Go with the 
philanthropist Howard, by the perusal of his me- 
moirs, into the prisons of Europe as they were. 



THE CHRISTIAN IXFLUEXCE IX LIFE. 431 

There the offenders against the laws, if that offence 
were only the inability to pay a debt, were cast out 
from the kind sympathies of the community. They 
were left abandoned there, generally in under-ground 
cells, to dampness, cold, hunger, filth, sickness, and 
chains. Their treatment was calculated to promote 
hostility in them and their friends, against the com- 
munity. These real hells were fashioned after the 
model of the fabulous hell of the people's creed, where 
punishment is revenge and not chastisement. 

But a blessed change is in progress. As we have 
said, the principle of heavenly wisdom, the spirit of 
universal philanthropy, is becoming the ruling genius 
of the age. It is reforming creeds, leavening the hearts 
of all sects, and modifying governments and laws. We 
see it in the prison discipline movement, which, en- 
listing the co-operation of different sects, is laboring 
to make our prisons schools of moral discipline, rather 
than engines of torture. We see it in the anti-slavery 
enterprise, which, bating all the indiscretions of men 
in the use of means, is founded upon the broad prin- 
ciples of the universal paternity of God, and the 
universal brotherhood of men, v/ho are all bound to 
labor for each other's instruction, elevation, prosperity 
and happiness. We see it in the temperance reform, 
the spirit of which discerns a brother in the Ioav and 
degraded, breathes upon them a brother's love, and 
warmxS them into life, — reaches forth a brother's arm, 
raises them up, and leads them home to virtue and 
peace. 

This is the working of Christian truth, in forming 
the life. Its messengers may be despised for their 
humbleness, or forgotten in the bustle of the world ; 



432 



COMPEND OF CHRISTIAN DIVINITY. 



but their principles will live oiiy — truth shall survive, 
and Avork its work, and none shall hinder it." 

And now, beloved brethren, be it our chief ambi- 
tion, so to live as co-workers with the spirit of Chris- 
tian truth, that he who examines our faith, and 
witnesses our life, shall be constrained to say of us 
as it was said of father Abraham, ^'So, then, faith 
Avrought with his works, and by works was faith 
made perfect." 



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